Decrypting spatiotemporal code of human endometrial receptivity.
Yang Liu, Yang Wang, Leilei Zhang, Yedong Tang, Yetao Hong, Meng Liu, Mengyuan Wang, Ya Sun, Xiaoyue Shen, Jie Mei, Min Wu, Na Kong, Shuangbo Kong, Haili Bao, Wenbo Deng
Abstract
Open AccessThe mechanism underlying the establishment of human endometrial receptivity remains elusive, constituting a significant obstacle to advancing our knowledge of female infertility. Via integrating high-resolution spatiotemporal and single-cell transcriptomic profiling and in situ sequencing, we construct a spatiotemporal atlas of human endometrial receptivity at single-cell resolution. Our study depicts detailed spatial molecular topography governing the opening and closing of human endometrial receptivity. Notably, the results indicate that stromal-specific NR2F1, CEBPD and epithelial-specific SGK1, KLF5 and ELF3 are closely associated with the opening of implantation window. Furthermore, cholesterol metabolism is found to promote ciliogenesis. Remarkably, we identify stroma- and epithelium-specific factors and unravel a previously unappreciated role of FGFs-FGFR2 signaling pathway mediating stroma-epithelium crosstalk in epithelial differentiation during the onset of receptivity. This spatiotemporally resolved receptivity code provides insights into the female fertility, with potential implications for the intervention of female infertility.