Scientific article
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English

Adult bone marrow progenitors become decidual cells and contribute to embryo implantation and pregnancy

Published inPLoS biology, vol. 17, no. 9, e3000421
Publication date2019-09
First online date2019-09-12
Abstract

Decidua is a transient uterine tissue shared by mammals with hemochorial placenta and is essential for pregnancy. The decidua is infiltrated by many immune cells promoting pregnancy. Adult bone marrow (BM)-derived cells (BMDCs) differentiate into rare populations of nonhematopoietic endometrial cells in the uterus. However, whether adult BMDCs become nonhematopoietic decidual cells and contribute functionally to pregnancy is unknown. Here, we show that pregnancy mobilizes mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to the circulation and that pregnancy induces considerable adult BMDCs recruitment to decidua, where some differentiate into nonhematopoietic prolactin-expressing decidual cells. To explore the functional importance of nonhematopoietic BMDCs to pregnancy, we used Homeobox a11 (Hoxa11)-deficient mice, having endometrial stromal-specific defects precluding decidualization and successful pregnancy. Hoxa11 expression in BM is restricted to nonhematopoietic cells. BM transplant (BMT) from wild-type (WT) to Hoxa11-/- mice results in stromal expansion, gland formation, and marked decidualization otherwise absent in Hoxa11-/- mice. Moreover, in Hoxa11+/- mice, which have increased pregnancy losses, BMT from WT donors leads to normalized uterine expression of numerous decidualization-related genes and rescue of pregnancy loss. Collectively, these findings reveal that adult BMDCs have a previously unrecognized nonhematopoietic physiologic contribution to decidual stroma, thereby playing important roles in decidualization and pregnancy.

Keywords
  • Animals
  • Bone Marrow Cells / physiology
  • Decidua / cytology
  • Embryo Implantation
  • Female
  • Homeodomain Proteins / genetics
  • Male
  • Mesenchymal Stem Cells / physiology
  • Mice, Knockout
  • Pregnancy / physiology
Affiliation entities Not a UNIGE publication
Funding
  • NICHD NIH HHS [K12 HD047018]
  • NIH HHS [S10 OD018521]
  • NICHD NIH HHS [R01 HD076422]
  • NCATS NIH HHS [UL1 TR001863]
  • NICHD NIH HHS [T32 HD007149]
  • National Institute of Child Health and Human Development [RO1HD076422]
  • Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development [5K12HD047018]
Citation (ISO format)
TAL, Reshef et al. Adult bone marrow progenitors become decidual cells and contribute to embryo implantation and pregnancy. In: PLoS biology, 2019, vol. 17, n° 9, p. e3000421. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3000421
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Identifiers
Journal ISSN1544-9173
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