Syncytiotrophoblast Markers Are Downregulated in Placentas from Idiopathic Stillbirths.

The trophoblast cells are responsible for the transfer of nutrients between the mother and the foetus and play a major role in placental endocrine function by producing and releasing large amounts of hormones and growth factors. Syncytiotrophoblast cells (STB), formed by the fusion of mononuclear cytotrophoblasts (CTB), constitute the interface between the foetus and the mother and are essential for all of these functions. We performed transcriptome analysis of human placental samples from two control groups-live births (LB), and stillbirths (SB) with a clinically recognised cause-and from our study group, idiopathic stillbirths (iSB). We identified 1172 DEGs in iSB, when comparing with the LB group; however, when we compared iSB with the SB group, only 15 and 12 genes were down- and upregulated in iSB, respectively. An assessment of these DEGs identified 15 commonly downregulated genes in iSB. Among these, several syncytiotrophoblast markers, like genes from the PSG and CSH families, as well as ALPP, KISS1, and CRH, were significantly downregulated in placental samples from iSB. The transcriptome analysis revealed underlying differences at a molecular level involving the syncytiotrophoblast. This suggests that defects in the syncytial layer may underlie unexplained stillbirths, therefore offering insights to improve clinical obstetrics practice.

Genetic regulation on ex vivo differentiated natural killer cells from human umbilical cord blood CD34+ cells.

Natural killer (NK)-cells are a lymphocyte population playing a critical role in the immune surveillance against tumors and virally infected cells. The development of human hematopoietic stem cells (hHSC) into fully differentiated NK-cells pass through discrete stages of differentiation involving a variety of factors such as cytokines, membrane factors, and transcription factors (TFs). Because there is lack of studies in this field, we decided to perform an extended analysis of TFs during in vitro differentiation of NK-cells. At several points of differentiation, cells were characterized by their mRNA expression either for NK-cell cell markers, for a number of mature NK-cell receptors or a large panel of TFs. Our data suggests that some TFs (ID2, EGR-2 and T-BET) play a role in NK-cell commitment, differentiation and maturation. Although delayed on its expression, BLIMP1 also seems to be involved in differentiation and maturation of NK cells, but not in NK-cell commitment. E4BP4 and TOX are more related with initial stages of NK-cell commitment. PU.1, MEF, Ikaros, EGR-1, BCL11B and IRF-2 revealed less involvement in maturation and were more associated with NK-cell commitment and pNK cell production. GATA-3 showed a differential role during the ontogeny of NK-cells. We show that assessment of the transcripts present in the differentiating NK-cells demonstrated, a pattern of preserved and differential gene expression remarkably similar to that seen in mice except for E4BP4 that showed constant downregulation throughout the culture period. A thorough understanding of NK-cell developmental mechanisms is important as it may enable future therapeutic manipulation.

Genomic imprinting in disruptive spermatogenesis.

The possibility of imprinting disease transmission by assisted reproductive technologies has been raised after births of children with Angelman's and Beckwith-Wiedemann's syndromes. To investigate whether imprinting defects were associated with disturbed spermatogenesis, we studied two oppositely imprinted genes in spermatozoan DNA from normozoospermic and oligozoospermic patients. In the mesodermal specific transcript gene (MEST), bisulphite genomic sequencing showed that maternal imprinting was correctly erased in all 123 patients. However, methylation of the H19 gene did not change in any of 27 normozoospermic individuals (0%, 95% CI 0-13%), compared with methylation changes in eight moderate (17%, 8-31%, p=0.026) and 15 severe (30%, 18-45%, p=0.002) oligozoospermic patients. Our data suggest an association between abnormal genomic imprinting and hypospermatogenesis, and that spermatozoa from oligozoospermic patients carry a raised risk of transmitting imprinting errors.