Exploring the role of Luman/CREB3 in regulating decidualization of mice endometrial stromal cells by comparative transcriptomics

Abstract

Abstract Background Luman is a member of CREB3 (cAMP responsive element-binding) subfamily of the basic leucine-zipper (bZIP) transcription factors. It may play an important regulatory role during the decidualization process since Luman was highly expressed in the decidual cells. However, the exact molecular mechanisms of how Luman regulating decidualization is unknown. Results Using an in vitro model, we prove that Luman knockdown significantly affects the decidualization process of mice endometrial stromal cells (ESCs) as the expression of two decidual markers PRL8a2 and PRL3c1 were repressed. We employed massively parallel RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) to understand the changes in the transcriptional landscape associated with knockdown of Luman in ESCs during in vitro decidualization. We found significant dysregulation of genes related to protein processing in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Several genes involved in decidualization including bone morphogenetic proteins (e.g. BMP1, BMP4, BMP8A, BMP2, and BMP8B), growth factor-related genes (e.g. VEGFB, FGF10, and FGFR2), and transcription factors (IF4E, IF4A2, WNT4, WNT9A, ETS1, NOTCH1, IRX1, IDB1, IDB2, and IDB3), show altered expression. We also found that the knockdown of Luman is associated with increased expression of cell cycle-related genes including cycA1, cycB1, cycB2, CDK1, CDK2, and PLPK1, which resulted in an increased proportion of ESCs in the G1 phase. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were highly enriched on ECM-receptor interaction signaling, endoplasmic reticulum protein processing, focal adhesion, and PI3K-Akt signaling pathways. Conclusions Luman knockdown results in widespread gene dysregulation during decidualization of ESCs. Genes involved in protein processing in ER, bone morphogenetic protein, growth factor, and cell cycle progression were identified as particularly important for explaining the decidual deficiency observed in this in vitro model. Therefore, this study provides clues as to the underlying mechanisms that may expand our understanding of gene regulation during decidualization.