Figure 1.
Decorin (DCN) abundance is increased in patients with recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL). (A-D) DCN mRNA levels, core protein levels, content, and its localization in the decidua of normal pregnancy and RPL groups were determined via reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) (n = 8-9), western blotting (n = 6), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (n = 15), and immunochemistry, respectively. Scale bar: 100 µm. (E) Representative fluorescence images of DCN and CD68, CK7, and Vimentin colocalization in the decidua of women with normal pregnancy (NP). CD68, CK7, and vimentin are markers of total decidual macrophages, trophoblasts, and decidual stromal cells (DSCs), respectively. Nuclei were stained with 4, 6-diamino-2-phenylindole (DAPI). Scale bar: 100 µm. (F) DCN mRNA and secreted DCN concentrations in the supernatant of T-HESCs were determined at the indicated time points (0, 1, 2, 4, and 6 d) after decidualization. mRNA expression levels were normalized to β-actin. Statistical analyses were performed via one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). #, &, $, % indicate the statistically significant differences vs. 0, 1, 2, and 4 d, respectively. (G) Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the decidua between the NP and RPL groups. (H) Protein-protein interaction network of selected DEGs in the decidua. Data represent the mean ± standard error of the mean (SEM) and were analyzed via one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). *P < 0.05.