Term placenta single cell transcriptome

We provide single cell transcriptomes from the placental-uterine interface. Tissue was collected at term C-section (no labor) from two healthy pregnancies, from villous part of the placenta. Cells were disassociated and processed using Fluidigm technology. RNA-seq was performed on RNA from 33+54 single cells, at approx. 3.5 mio paired reads per cell. Clustering resulted in 4 trophoblast and a single immune cell clusters. As the placenta is an epitome of cell signaling, we combined the present cell-level transcriptomes with uterine cell transcriptomes to study the potential inter-cell communication. To this end, we inferred the cell-cell-interactome by assessing the gene expression of receptor-ligand pairs across cell types. We find among the signals transmitted a predominance of growth and immune signals, and suggest a delicate balance of enhancing and suppressive signals. Finally, this study provides a rich resource of gene expression profiles of term intravillous and extravillous trophoblasts. Overall design: Single cell mRNA-seq of placenta from two term healthy pregnancies.