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Contractile Activity of Human Decidual Stromal Cells

Unidad de Inmunología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Granada (M.K., C.O., A.C.A.-M., E.G.O.), 18012 Granada, Spain; and Unidad de Inmunología y Biología Molecular, Hospital do Meixoeiro (J.M.-G.-P.), 36200 Vigo, Spain

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Dr. Enrique G. Olivares, Unidad de Inmunología, Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Granada, 18012 Granada, Spain. E-mail: engarcia{at}ugr.es.

We previously demonstrated that human decidual stromal cells (DSC), the main cellular component of the decidua, are similar in antigen phenotype and structure to myofibroblasts, cells with contractile activity. In this work we isolated and maintained DSC in fibroblast medium, in which these cells show a stable phenotype similar to that of DSC in vivo. Flow cytometric observations showed that most DSC expressed -smooth muscle (-SM) actin, an intermediate filament that is considered a marker of myofibroblasts and is responsible for the contractile activity of these cells. -SM actin mRNA was detected by RT-PCR in these cells. The contractile activity of DSC was determined by the gel contraction assay; we found that TGFß1 and platelet-derived-growth factor, cytokines that are known to be inducers of myofibroblast contractility, also induced contractility of DSC. IL-2, a Th1 cytokine-related with spontaneous abortion, also activated DSC contractility. Our results confirmed that DSC are phenotypically and functionally related with myofibroblast.

This work was supported by grants from the Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias de la Seguridad Social (Spanish Ministry of Health).

Abbreviations: ALP, Alkaline phosphatase; DSC, decidual stromal cell; ESC, endometrial stromal cell; FCS, fetal calf serum; HLA, human leukocyte antigen; mAb, monoclonal antibody; PDGF, platelet-derived-growth factor; preDSC, decidual stromal cell precursor; -SM, -smooth muscle.

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