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28 May 2021 Multi-omics reveals a relationship between endometrial amino acid metabolism and autophagy in women with recurrent miscarriage
Ling Hong, Yuan Chang Zhu, Su Liu, Tonghua Wu, Yuye Li, Lijun Ye, Lianghui Diao, Yong Zeng
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Abstract

Deterioration of the endometrial environment is an essential cause of recurrent miscarriage (RM). However, current studies in terms of endometrial amino acid metabolic characterization and autophagy are still inadequate. We tried to (1) identify the alternation in metabolite profiles in the RM endometrium; (2) investigate the expression of autophagy-related proteins in RM; and (3) elucidate the association between amino acid metabolism and autophagy in RM. Our results showed that glutamine metabolites were up-regulated in the endometrium of RM women. The levels of autophagy-associated proteins, LC3B, ATG12, and Beclin-1, were significantly higher in RM. Hemostasis, autophagy and IFNα signaling were the top three differentially activated signaling pathways between women with RM and normal pregnancy. Interestingly the expression of AMPK and GCN2 was significantly up-regulated in the endometrium of women with RM, and the same expression trend was also observed in the human endometrial stromal cells cultured in glutamine deprivation medium. Furthermore, inhibition of AMPK decreased the level of GCN2, indicating a positive correlation between GCN2 and AMPK. The expression of GCN2 was consistent with the expression of ATG12 and beclin-1; however, it was opposite to that of p62. Exposure to glutamine deprivation increased the level of LC3B, GCN2, ATG12, and beclin-1. Altogether, these findings suggested significant crosstalk between amino acid metabolism and autophagy. In summary, our data suggested that aberrant crosstalk between amino acid metabolism and autophagy may contribute to the impaired endometrial microenvironment of RM. Our study may provide new insight into the diagnosis of RM due to endometrial factors.

© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Society for the Study of Reproduction. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com
Ling Hong, Yuan Chang Zhu, Su Liu, Tonghua Wu, Yuye Li, Lijun Ye, Lianghui Diao, and Yong Zeng "Multi-omics reveals a relationship between endometrial amino acid metabolism and autophagy in women with recurrent miscarriage," Biology of Reproduction 105(2), 393-402, (28 May 2021). https://doi.org/10.1093/biolre/ioab101
Received: 3 January 2021; Accepted: 18 May 2021; Published: 28 May 2021
KEYWORDS
amino acid metabolism
autophagy
metabolomics
Recurrent miscarriage
RNA sequencing
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