AUTHOR=Yang Jing , Gong Lili , Liu Qiming , Zhao Huanqiang , Wang Zekun , Li Xiaotian , Tian Weidong , Zhou Qiongjie TITLE=Single-cell RNA-seq reveals developmental deficiencies in both the placentation and the decidualization in women with late-onset preeclampsia JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology VOLUME=14 YEAR=2023 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2023.1142273 DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2023.1142273 ISSN=1664-3224 ABSTRACT=

Preeclampsia (PE) is a leading cause of maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. Although increasing lines of evidence suggest that both the placenta and the decidua likely play roles in the pathogenesis of PE, the molecular mechanism of PE remains elusive partly because of the heterogeneity nature of the maternal-fetal interface. In this study, we perform single-cell RNA-seq on the placenta and the decidual from patients with late-onset PE (LOPE) and women in normal pregnancy. Analyses of single-cell transcriptomes reveal that in LOPE, there are likely a global development deficiency of trophoblasts with impaired invasion of extravillous trophoblasts (EVT) and increased maternal immune rejection and inflammation in the placenta, while there are likely insufficient decidualization of decidual stromal cells (DSC), increased inflammation, and suppressed regulatory functions of decidual immune cells. These findings improve our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of PE.