The YY1/MMP2 axis promotes trophoblast invasion at the maternal-fetal interface

ABSTRACT: YY1 is a sequence-specific DNA-binding transcription factor that has many important biological roles. However, its function in trophoblasts at the maternal-foetal interface remains to be elucidated. In this study, we used an mRNA microarray and quantitative reverse transcription-PCR and compared the YY1 mRNA expression level in trophoblasts between patients with recurrent miscarriage (RM) and healthy control subjects. Our results revealed that YY1 mRNA expression was significantly lower in the trophoblasts of the RM group compared with the healthy control group. Furthermore, immunofluorescence and immunohistochemical data showed that YY1 was highly expressed in human placental villi during early pregnancy, especially in cytotrophoblast cells and invasive extravillous trophoblasts, and it was expressed at a much lower level in the placental villi of term pregnancy. YY1 overexpression enhanced the invasion and proliferation of trophoblasts, while knockdown of YY1 repressed these effects. Antibody array screening revealed that YY1 significantly promoted MMP2 expression in trophoblasts. Bioinformatics analysis identified three YY1-binding sites in the MMP2 promoter region, and chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis verified that YY1 binds directly to its promoter region. Importantly, inhibition of YY1 by siRNA clearly decreased trophoblast invasion in an ex vivo explant culture model. Overall, our findings revealed a new regulatory pathway of YY1/MMP2 in trophoblast cells invasion during early pregnancy, and indicated that YY1 may be involved in the pathogenesis of RM. Total RNA was isolated using Trizol from trophoblast cells from three healthy controls (HC) and three recurrent miscarriage (RM) patients. Total RNA were extracted and used for hybridizing Affymetrix chips (GeneChip® Human Transcriptome Array 2.0(HTA2.0)). Data were normalised by gcRMA method and raw p-values adjusted by Bonferroni procedure (1%).

ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens

SUBMITTER: Fu-Ju Tian 

PROVIDER: E-GEOD-76862 | biostudies-arrayexpress |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-arrayexpress