Convergent gene expression in epithelial cells illuminates the evolution of uterine receptivity

Abstract

The epithelium of the uterine endometrium is the first maternal interface encountered by the embryo, and plays crucial roles in the maternal-embryonic crosstalk necessary to embryo implantation. Mechanisms of embryo implantation are highly variable between mammals: humans and mice have convergently evolved similar embryo implantation phenotypes, where the embryo embeds in the maternal mucosa, which differs from the ancestral mammalian and primate phenotypes. This phenomenon is thought to be partly controlled by maternal epithelial receptivity signals during the window of implantation. Here, we combined endometrial epithelial organoid models and single-cell transcriptomics to investigate how gene expression has evolved in endometrial epithelial cells between human, non-human primates and mouse at key time points in the hormonal cycle. We discovered that many maternal genes involved in uterine receptivity and embryo implantation exhibit more similar expression patterns between human and mouse compared to macaque and marmoset. In particular, we show that the endometrial expression of LIF, a crucial actor of endometrial receptivity in both human and mouse, is likely an evolutionary convergence rather than a conserved feature as previously hypothesised.