Department of Biology, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC, USA.
Cell Tissue Res. 2021 Jun;384(3):771-788. doi: 10.1007/s00441-020-03354-y. Epub 2021 Jan 29.
Cervical epithelial cells play a central role in cervical remodeling (CR) during pregnancy and cervical events during menstrual cycle, including mounting physical and immunological barriers, proliferation and differentiation, maintenance of fluid balance, and likely in withstanding the mechanical force exerted by the growing fetus prior to term. In the present study, we attempt to decipher the specific roles of VEGF in fetal human cervical epithelial cells by delineating VEGF signature genes using RNA sequencing in order to characterize the specific biological effects of VEGF in these cells.Out of a total of 25,000 genes screened, 162 genes were found to be differentially expressed in human cervical epithelial cells, of which 12 genes were found to be statistically significantly differentially expressed. The differentially expressed genes (162) were categorized by biological function, which included (1) proliferation, (2) immune response, (3) structure/matrix, (4) mitochondrial function, and (5) cell adhesion/communication and others (pseudogenes, non-coding RNA, miscellaneous genes, and uncharacterized genes). We conclude that VEGF plays a key role in CR by altering the expression of genes that regulate proliferation, immune response, energy metabolism and cell structure, and biological processes that are essential to development and likely CR.
宫颈上皮细胞在妊娠期间的宫颈重塑（CR）和月经周期中的宫颈事件中发挥核心作用，包括建立物理和免疫屏障、增殖和分化、维持液体平衡，并可能在足月前承受不断生长的胎儿施加的机械力。在本研究中，我们试图通过 RNA 测序描绘 VEGF 特征基因来阐明 VEGF 在胎儿人宫颈上皮细胞中的特定作用，以表征 VEGF 在这些细胞中的特定生物学效应。在总共筛选的 25000 个基因中，发现 162 个基因在人宫颈上皮细胞中表达差异，其中 12 个基因表达差异具有统计学意义。差异表达的基因（162 个）按生物学功能分类，包括（1）增殖，（2）免疫反应，（3）结构/基质，（4）线粒体功能，（5）细胞黏附和通讯等（假基因、非编码 RNA、其他基因和未鉴定基因）。我们的结论是，VEGF 通过改变调节增殖、免疫反应、能量代谢和细胞结构的基因的表达，以及对发育和可能的 CR 至关重要的生物学过程，在 CR 中发挥关键作用。
