Human predecidual stromal cells have distinctive characteristics of pericytes: Cell contractility, chemotactic activity, and expression of pericyte markers and angiogenic factors Muñoz Fernández, Raquel de la Mata, Claudia Prados, Alejandro Perea, Ana Ruiz Magaña, María José Llorca, Tatiana Fernández-Rubio, Pablo Blanco, Osmany Abadía-Molina, Ana C. García Olivares, Enrique Cytokines Decidua Decidual stromal cells Natural killer cells Pericytes Introduction: Human decidual stromal cells (DSCs) play a key role in maternalefetal interactions. Precursors of DSCs (preDSCs) localize around vessels in both the endometrium and decidua. Previous studies suggested a relationship between preDSCs and pericytes because these cells share a perivascular location, alpha smooth muscle actin (a-SM actin) expression and the ability to contract under the effects of cytokines. Methods: To further study this relationship, we established 15 human preDSC lines and 3 preDSC clones. The preDSC lines and clones were tested by flow cytometry with a panel of 29 monoclonal antibodies, 14 of which are pericyte markers. The expression of angiogenic factors was determined by RT-PCR, chemotactic activity was studied with the migration assay, and cell contractility was evaluated with the collagen cell contraction assay. Confocal microscopy was used to study decidual sections. Results: Under the effect of progesterone and cAMP, these lines decidualized in vitro: the cells became rounder and secreted prolactin, a marker of physiological DSC differentiation (decidualization). The antigen phenotype of these preDSC lines and clones was fully compatible with that reported for pericytes. PreDSC lines displayed pericyte characteristics: they expressed angiogenic factors and showed chemotactic and cytokine-induced contractile activity. Confocal microscopic examination of decidual sections revealed the expression of antigens detected in preDSC lines: a-SM actin colocalized with CD146, CD140b, MFG-E8, nestin, and STRO-1 (all of which are pericyte markers) in cells located around the vessels, a distinctive location of preDSCs and pericytes. Discussion: Taken together, our results show that preDSCs are pericyte-like cells. 2024-01-02T18:34:34Z 2024-01-02T18:34:34Z 2018-01 journal article R. Muñoz-Fernández, C. De La Mata, A. Prados, A. Perea, M.J. Ruiz-Magaña, T. Llorca, P. Fernández-Rubio, O. Blanco, A.C. Abadía-Molina, E.G. Olivares. Human predecidual stromal cells have distinctive characteristics of pericytes: Cell contractility, chemotactic activity, and expression of pericyte markers and angiogenic factors. Placenta. 2018 Jan;61:39-47. https://hdl.handle.net/10481/86514 10.1016/j.placenta.2017.11.010 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ open access Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License Elsevier Ltd.