Single-cell transcriptomics of the human placenta: inferring the cell communication network of the maternal-fetal interface.

ABSTRACT: Organismal function is, to a great extent, determined by interactions among their fundamental building blocks, the cells. In this work, we studied the cell-cell interactome of fetal placental trophoblast cells and maternal endometrial stromal cells, using single-cell transcriptomics. The placental interface mediates the interaction between two semiallogenic individuals, the mother and the fetus, and is thus the epitome of cell interactions. To study these, we inferred the cell-cell interactome by assessing the gene expression of receptor-ligand pairs across cell types. We find a highly cell-type-specific expression of G-protein-coupled receptors, implying that ligand-receptor profiles could be a reliable tool for cell type identification. Furthermore, we find that uterine decidual cells re

SUBMITTER: Pavlicev M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5340963 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature