establishing-a-mouse-model-of-thin-endometrium

Establishing a Mouse Model of Thin Endometrium

Thin endometrium (TE) has been widely recognized as a critical cause of infertility. However, the pathogenesis of TE remains unclear, and satisfactory ...

Shenzhen Zhongshan Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital (formerly Shenzhen Zhongshan Urology Hospital)

Guangdong Engineering Technology Research Center of Reproductive Immunology for Peri-Implantation

Ovulation dysfunction is now a widespread cause of infertility around the world. Although the impact of immune cells in human reproduction has been widely investigated, systematic understanding of the changes of the immune atlas under female ovulation remain less understood.

Immune and oxidative stress disorder in ovulation-dysfunction women revealed by single-cell transcriptome.

Immune dysfunction in early pregnancy including overactivation of cytotoxic CD16 NK cells and proinflammatory M1 macrophages at the maternal-fetal interface interferes with trophoblast invasion, spiral artery remodeling, and decidualization, potentially leading to miscarriage. Immunosuppressants like glucocorticoids (GCs) are used to regulate the immune microenvironment in clinical treatment, but the lack of safe and efficient tissue-specific drug delivery systems, especially immune cell-specific vectors, limits their widespread clinical application. Here, a previously uncharacterized delivery system is reported, termed GC-Exo-CD16Ab, in which GCs are loaded into purified exosomes derived from human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells, and subsequently decorated with antibody CD16Ab. GC-Exo-CD16Ab is biocompatible and has remarkable delivery efficiency toward CD16 decidual natural killer (NK) cells and CD16 macrophages in mice. This innovative approach effectively suppresses the cytotoxicity of decidual NK cells, inhibits M1 macrophage polarization, and regulates the decidual microenvironment, thereby enhancing placental and fetal morphology, and ultimately mitigating miscarriage risk in the abortion-prone mice. The developed GC-Exo-CD16Ab provides a feasible platform for precise and tissue-specific therapeutic strategies for miscarriage and pregnancy-related diseases.

Xian Chen

Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Reproductive Immunology for Peri-implantation,
Shenzhen Zhongshan Institute for Reproductive Medicine and Genetics,
Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Reproductive Immunology for Peri-implantation, Shenzhen Zhongshan Institute for Reproductive Medicine and Genetics

Shenzhen Zhongshan Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital (formerly Shenzhen Zhongshan Urology Hospital)

Establishing a Mouse Model of Thin Endometrium