Gene expression profiling of human decidual macrophages. Homo sapiens

Uterine macrophages are thought to play an important regulatory role at the maternal-fetal interface. We report here a unique gene expression pattern intrinsic of first trimester decidual monocytes/macrophages, but not of their blood counterparts. The micro-array data comprises approximately 14,000 genes. Some of the key findings were confirmed by real time PCR or secreted protein measurements. A large number of regulated genes were found to be functionally related to immunomodulation and tissue remodelling, corroborating polarization patterns of differentiated macrophages of M2 phenotype. These include M2 markers such as CCL-18, CD209, insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1, mannose receptor c type (MRC)-1 and fibronectin-1. Further, the selective up-regulation of triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells (TREM)-2, alpha-2-macroglobulin (A2M) and prostaglandin D2 synthase (PGDS) provides new insights into the regulatory function of decidual macrophages in pregnancy. In addition, a large number of regulated genes in the micro-array analysis were related to cell cycle regulation. Taken together, molecular characterization of decidual macrophages presents a unique transcriptional profile replete with important components for fetal immunoprotection. Keywords: disease state analysis, comparative gene expression Overall design: Comparative expression analyis of CD14+ cells isolated either from blood or decidua. Decidual tissue and blood was obtained from eleven women between 18 and 41 years of age

子宫巨噬细胞被认为在母胎界面发挥重要的调控作用。本研究报道了孕早期蜕膜单核细胞/巨噬细胞特有的独特基因表达模式，而该模式并不存在于其血液来源的对应细胞中。本研究的微阵列（micro-array）数据涵盖约14000个基因。部分关键研究结果已通过实时荧光定量PCR（real-time PCR）或分泌蛋白检测得到验证。大量差异表达基因被发现与免疫调节及组织重塑功能密切相关，这印证了分化为M2型表型的巨噬细胞的极化特征。这些M2型标志物包括CCL-18、CD209、胰岛素样生长因子1（insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1）、C型甘露糖受体1（mannose receptor c type (MRC)-1）以及纤连蛋白1（fibronectin-1）。此外，髓系细胞触发受体2（triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells (TREM)-2）、α2-巨球蛋白（alpha-2-macroglobulin (A2M)）以及前列腺素D2合酶（prostaglandin D2 synthase (PGDS)）的选择性上调，为理解蜕膜巨噬细胞在妊娠中的调控功能提供了新视角。此外，微阵列分析中发现的大量差异表达基因与细胞周期调控相关。综上，对蜕膜巨噬细胞的分子表征揭示了一套独特的转录谱，其中包含诸多参与胎儿免疫保护的关键组分。
关键词：疾病状态分析、比较基因表达
实验设计：对分别从血液或蜕膜中分离得到的CD14阳性细胞进行比较表达谱分析。研究共纳入11名年龄在18至41岁之间的女性，采集其蜕膜组织及血液样本。