Integrative Analyses of Uterine Transcriptome and MicroRNAome Reveal Compromised LIF-STAT3 Signaling and Progesterone Response in the Endometrium of Patients with Recurrent/Repeated Implantation Failure (RIF)

PLoS One. 2016 Jun 15;11(6):e0157696. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0157696. eCollection 2016.

Abstract

Intimate two-way interactions between the implantation-competent blastocyst and receptive uterus are prerequisite for successful embryo implantation. In humans, recurrent/repeated implantation failure (RIF) may occur due to altered uterine receptivity with aberrant gene expression in the endometrium as well as genetic defects in embryos. Several studies have been performed to understand dynamic changes of uterine transcriptome during menstrual cycles in humans. However, uterine transcriptome of the patients with RIF has not been clearly investigated yet. Here we show that several signaling pathways as well as many genes and microRNAs are dysregulated in the endometrium of patients with RIF (RIFE). Whereas unsupervised hierarchical clustering showed that overall mRNA and microRNA profiles of RIFE were similar to those of endometria of healthy women, many genes were significantly dysregulated in RIFE (cut off at 1.5 fold change). The majority (~75%) of differentially expressed genes in RIFE including S100 calcium binding protein P (S100P), Chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 13 (CXCL13) and SIX homeobox 1 (SIX1) were down-regulated, suggesting that reduced uterine expression of these genes is associated with RIF. Gene Set Enrichment analyses (GSEA) for mRNA microarrays revealed that various signaling pathways including Leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) signaling and a P4 response were dysregulated in RIFE although expression levels of Estrogen receptor α (ERα) and Progesterone receptor (PR) were not significantly altered in RIFE. Furthermore, expression and phosphorylation of Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) are reduced and a gene set associated with Janus kinase (JAK)-STAT signaling pathway is systemically down-regulated in these patients. Pairwise analyses of microRNA arrays with prediction of dysregulated microRNAs based on mRNA expression datasets demonstrated that 6 microRNAs are aberrantly regulated in RIFE. Collectively, we here suggest that dysregulation of several major signaling pathways and genes critical for uterine biology and embryo implantation may lead to uterine abnormalities in patients with RIF.

MeSH terms

  • Abortion, Habitual / genetics
  • Adult
  • Cluster Analysis
  • Embryo Implantation / genetics
  • Endometrium / metabolism*
  • Female
  • Gene Expression Profiling / methods
  • Humans
  • Immunohistochemistry
  • Leukemia Inhibitory Factor / genetics*
  • Leukemia Inhibitory Factor / metabolism
  • MicroRNAs / genetics*
  • Progesterone / metabolism
  • Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • STAT3 Transcription Factor / genetics*
  • STAT3 Transcription Factor / metabolism
  • Signal Transduction / genetics
  • Transcriptome*
  • Urogenital Abnormalities / genetics
  • Urogenital Abnormalities / metabolism
  • Uterus / abnormalities
  • Uterus / metabolism*

Substances

  • Leukemia Inhibitory Factor
  • MicroRNAs
  • STAT3 Transcription Factor
  • Progesterone

Supplementary concepts

  • Uterine Anomalies

Grants and funding

This work was supported in part by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grants funded by the Korea government (MEST)(NRF-2015R1A2A2A01006714 to HS and NRF-2014R1A1A2059980 to DHC).