Computational flow cytometry analysis reveals a unique immune signature of the human maternal‐fetal interface

This publication used Flow Cytometry in the course of research.

Problem

Decidual immune dysregulation is thought to underlie major pregnancy disorders; however, incomplete understanding of the decidual immune interface has hampered the mechanistic investigation.

Method of study

Human term decidua was collected, and single‐cell phenotypic information was acquired by highly polychromatic flow cytometry. Cellular identity analysis was performed with t‐distributed stochastic neighbor embedding, DensVM clustering, and matched to CellOntology database.

Results

Traditional analytical methods validated known cellular T and dendritic cell subsets in human term decidua. Computational analysis revealed a complex and tissue‐specific decidual immune signature in both the innate and adaptive immune compartments.

Conclusion

Polychromatic flow cytometry with a streamlined computational analysis pipeline is a feasible approach to comprehensive immunome mapping of human term decidua. As an unbiased, standardized method of investigation, computational flow cytometry promises to unravel the immune pathology of pregnancy disorders.

Read the full article at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/aji.12774