Cell specification and functional interactions in the pig blastocyst inferred from single-cell transcriptomics and uterine fluids proteomics

Adrien Dufour (1) , Cyril Kurylo (2) , Jan B Stöckl (3) , Denis Laloë (1) , Yoann Bailly (4, 5) , Patrick Manceau (4, 5) , Frédéric Martins (6, 7) , Ali G Turhan (8, 9) , Stéphane Ferchaud (4, 5) , Bertrand Pain (10, 11) , Thomas Fröhlich (3) , Sylvain Foissac (2) , Jérôme Artus (8, 9) , Hervé Acloque (1)

1 GABI - Génétique Animale et Biologie Intégrative
2 GenPhySE - Génétique Physiologie et Systèmes d'Elevage
3 LMU - Ludwig Maximilian University [Munich] = Ludwig Maximilians Universität München
4 GenESI - Unité Expérimentale Elevages Porcins Innovants
5 ICP - Insémination Caprine et Porcine
6 GeT-PlaGe - Génome et Transcriptome - Plateforme Génomique
7 TBI-GeT - Génome et Transcriptome (GeT) - Biopuces
8 AP-HP. Université Paris Saclay
9 INSERM UMR_S_1310, Université Paris Saclay, 94800 Villejuif, France
10 INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement
11 SBRI - Institut cellule souche et cerveau / Stem Cell and Brain Research Institute

The embryonic development of the pig comprises a long in utero pre-and peri-implantation development, which dramatically differs from mice and humans. During this peri-implantation period, a complex series of paracrine signals establishes an intimate dialogue between the embryo and the uterus. To better understand the biology of the pig blastocyst during this period, we generated a large dataset of single-cell RNAseq from early and hatched blastocysts, spheroid and ovoid conceptus and proteomic datasets from corresponding uterine fluids. Our results confirm the molecular specificity and functionality of the three main cell populations. We also discovered two previously unknown subpopulations of the trophectoderm, one characterised by the expression of LRP2, which could represent progenitor cells, and the other, expressing pro-apoptotic markers, which could correspond to the Rauber's layer. Our work provides new insights into the biology of these populations, their reciprocal functional interactions, and the molecular dialogue with the maternal uterine environment.

Mots clés: Pig; Blastocyst; Trophectoderm; Epiblast; Hypoblast; Single-cell

Domaines: Bio-informatique [q-bio.QM]

Adrien Dufour, Cyril Kurylo, Jan B Stöckl, Denis Laloë, Yoann Bailly, et al.. Cell specification and functional interactions in the pig blastocyst inferred from single-cell transcriptomics and uterine fluids proteomics. Genomics, 2024, 116 (2), pp.110780. ⟨10.1016/j.ygeno.2023.110780⟩. ⟨hal-04410537⟩