Extracellular vesicles (EVs) secreted by human aneuploid embryos contain a distinct RNA cargo and upregulate MUC1 transcription in decidualised endometrial stromal cells (dESCs)
Study question: Could extracellular vesicles (EVs) secreted by aneuploid embryos a) serve for development of RNA biomarkers for preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy (PGT-A) and b) elicit a relevant transcriptomic response in decidualised primary endometrial stromal cells (dESCs)? Summary answer: Aneuploid embryo EVs a) contain genes PPM1J, LINC00561, ANKRD34C and TMED10 in differential abundance from euploid EVs and b) induce up-regulation of MUC1 transcript in dESCs. What is known already: PGT-A is popular as it is thought to facilitate transfer of euploid embryos to increase implantation probability but the technology is controversial, as it requires an invasive embryo biopsy with an elusive long-term biosafety. The development of non-invasive methods to screen out aneuploid embryos is paramount. It is also critical to decode the embryo-endometrial dialog underlying implantation failure. We have previously reported that IVF embryos secrete EVs that can be internalised by ESCs, conceptualising that successful implantation to the endometrium is facilitated by EVs, which may additionally serve as biomarkers of ploidy status. Study design, size, duration: Embryos destined for biopsy on days 5-7 for PGT-A were grown under standard conditions. Spent media (30µl) were collected from euploid (n=175) and aneuploid (n=140)embryos at cleavage (days 1-3) stage and from euploid (n=187) and aneuploid (n=142) embryos at blastocyst (days 3-5) stage. Media samples from n=35 cleavage embryos were pooled in order to obtain five euploid and four aneuploid pools. Similarly, media samples from blastocyst were pooled to create one euploid and one aneuploid pool. ESCs were obtained from five women undergoing diagnostic laparoscopy. Participants/materials, setting, methods: EVs were isolated from pools of media derived from euploid and aneuploid day 3 embryos with differential centrifugation and EV-RNA sequencing was performed following the SMARTer Stranded Total RNA-Seq approach. ESCs were decidualised (E2:10nM, P4:1uM, cAMP:0.5 mM twice every 48 hours) and treated for 24 hours with 50 ng/ml euploid or aneuploid EVs extracted from blastocyst media. RNA sequencing was performed on ESCs following the Illumina Truseq RNAseq protocol. Main results and the role of chance: Aneuploid cleavage stage embryos secreted EVs that were less abundant in RNA fragments originating from the genes PPM1J (log2fc=-5.13, p=0.011), LINC00561 (log2fc=-7.87, p=0.010) and ANKRD34C (log2fc=-7.30, p=0.017) and more abundant in TMED10 (log2fc=1.63 p=0.025) compared to EVs from euploid embryos. Decidualisation per se induced downregulation of MUC1 (log2FC=-0.54, p=0.0028) in ESCs as prerequisite for the establishment of receptive endometrium. The expression of MUC1 transcript in decidualised ESCs was significantly increased following treatment with aneuploid compared to euploid embryo-secreted EVs (log2FC=0.85, p=0.0201). Limitations, reasons for caution: The findings of the study may require validation utilising a second cohort of EVs samples. Wider implications of the findings: The discovery that the RNA cargo of EVs secreted from aneuploid cleavage stage embryos is diverse from that of euploid embryos potentiates the development of non-invasive methodology for PGT-A. The upregulation of MUC1 in dESCs following aneuploid embryo EV treatment proposes a new mechanism underlying implantation failure. Funding: The study was supported by a MSCA fellowship awarded to SM by the European Commission (CERVINO grant agreement ID: 79620) and by a BIRTH research grant from Theramex HQ UK Ltd Overall design: Experiment 1. We collected spent culture medium from undiagnosed embryos (n=105) at the cleavage stage (days 1-3). Media samples from n=35 single cleavage embryos cultures were pooled to create a single pool. Experiment 2. We collected spent culture medium from euploid (n=175) and aneuploid (n=140) embryos at the cleavage stage. Experiment 3. We collected spent culture medium from euploid (n=187) and aneuploidy (n=142) expanded blastocysts (days 3-5). Samples from embryos with the same ploidy were pooled: media samples from n=35 cleavage embryos were pooled in order to obtain five euploid and four aneuploid pool; media samples from blastocyst were pooled to create one euploid and one aneuploid pool.