Loss of endometrial plasticity in recurrent pregnancy loss (MeDIP-Seq)

Decidual transformation of the human endometrium is not dependent on embryo implantation. Instead, this process is initiated during the mid-luteal phase of each cycle in response to the postovulatory rise in progesterone and increasing endometrial cAMP levels. Consequently, decidualization is a reiterative process directly linked to cyclic activation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and subsequent differentiation into mature stromal cells in regenerating endometrium. We reasoned that aberrant remodeling of the HESC epigenome would disrupt decidualization in RPL patients and account for the functional memory of HESCs in culture. To explore this possibility, we performed MeDIP-seq, which involves immunoprecipitation of DNA with a 5-methylcytosine antibody followed by deep sequencing, on primary HESC cultures established from four RPL patients and four control subjects. Overall design: Eight samples were analyzed: derived from four control and four recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) patient cultures.