Page 25 - HKSEMR2020 Programme book

Poster Presentation (Basic Science) Abstracts

The regulatory roles of human endometrial gland secretions at the

fetal-maternal interface

Le-Qian Lin, Cheuk-Lun Lee, Philip C.N. Chiu
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong SAR;
Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Fertility Regulation, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The University of Hong
Kong-Shenzhen Hospital.

Introduction / Background / Objectives: and phagocytic activity were analyzed by standard methods. The
decidualization of a stromal cell line (T-HESC) was determined by
The success of pregnancy depends on a well-established fetal-
maternal interface, which mainly consists of endometrial stromal/ the expression of known decidualization markers after hormonal
epithelial cells, immune cells, trophoblasts and endothelial cells. and cAMP induction.
Rather than being a barrier, it serves as a region for cross-
talk between the maternal and fetal cells to modulate the Results / Outcomes:
maternal immune system and placental development. Molecular
dysregulation at the maternal-fetal interface is associated with The endometrial organoids can expand long-term and functionally
pregnancy complications such as implantation failure and recurrent respond to E2 and P4, and, when further stimulated with pregnancy
miscarriage. The endometrial gland, which is composed of signals (hCG and PRL), they acquire characteristics of gestational
glandular epithelial cells, secretes and transports various paracrine endometrium, producing abundant glycodelin-A. The inclusion of
factors that are essential for the survival and development of the the E2+P4-treated endometrial organoid secretome during M-CSF-
conceptus. induced differentiation, increased the expression of the decidual
macrophage marker, indoleamine 2, 3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO-1) in the
resulting macrophages. The secretome also significantly induced
Methods: the decidualization of T-HESC cells. In addition, the phagocytic
ability of the differentiated macrophages was also inhibited by the
A long-term human endometrium gland organoid-culturing
system was established using endometrial tissue from women secretome of E2+P4+hCG-treated endometrial organoids.
who consented to undergo an endometrial biopsy. The derived
organoids were treated with the sex hormones estrogen (E2), Conclusion:
progesterone (P4), and human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) to
mimic the estrous cycle and early pregnancy environment. The Using a human glandular organoid model, we showed that
effects of the organoid secretome on monocyte differentiation and the endometrial gland secretome can regulate the decidual
stromal cell decidualization were determined. Human monocytes macrophage differentiation and functioning, and stromal cell
were isolated from female blood by immunomagnetic separation decidualization. Hormonal treatments modulate the secretome of
and were differentiated into macrophages using macrophage organoids and its actions on endometrial cells.
colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF; 50 ng/mL). Their phenotypes

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