Post-Doctoral Fellow Centre for Translational Stem Cell Biology, Hong Kong
Abstract: Understanding human blastocyst-endometrium interaction helps fertility treatment. E-cadherin (CDH1) on the lateral membranes of adjacent epithelial cells is a well-known adhesion molecule for maintenance of epithelial integrity through adherens junction formation between adjacent epithelial cells. The endometrial luminal epithelial cells (EEC) are the first maternal cells that interact directly with blastocyst. Here, we demonstrated that CDH1 expressed in apical region of EEC contributed significantly to the interaction. We revealed that homophilic binding of CDH1 between the trophectoderm of blastocyst and the EEC mediated attachment of blastocyst surrogate (BAP-EB) onto EEC. Knockdown of CDH1 and its stabilizer CTNND1 in the EEC reduced the expression of adhesion-related molecules, and BAP-EB attachment. Embryo-derived human chorionic gonadotrophin enhanced apical expression of CDH1 in EEC. The data suggested that embryonic signals induced apical expression of endometrial CDH1 to facilitate implantation via hetero-cellular CDH1 homophilic binding.
Funding Source: Innovation Technology commission (Health@innoHK); Health and Medical Research Fund (#04151546, #10212996, #11222296); Grant for Fertility Innovation 2016 (Merck).
