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Updated: Mar 31, 2026

Isolation of Primary Human Decidual Cells from the Fetal Membranes of Term Placentae
Published on: April 30, 2018
RelB activation in anti-inflammatory decidual endothelial cells: a master plan to avoid pregnancy failure?
Elisa Masat1, Chiara Gasparini2, Chiara Agostinis2
1Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy.
Abstract:
It is known that excessive inflammation at fetal-maternal interface is a key contributor in a compromised pregnancy. Female genital tract is constantly in contact with microorganisms and several strategies must be adopted to avoid pregnancy failure. Decidual endothelial cells (DECs) lining decidual microvascular vessels are the first cells that interact with pro-inflammatory stimuli released into the environment by microorganisms derived from gestational tissues or systemic circulation. Here, we show that DECs are hypo-responsive to LPS stimulation in terms of IL-6, CXCL8 and CCL2 production. Our results demonstrate that DECs express low levels of TLR4 and are characterized by a strong constitutive activation of the non-canonical NF-κB pathway and a low responsiveness of the canonical pathway to LPS. In conclusion, DECs show a unique hypo-responsive phenotype to the pro-inflammatory stimulus LPS in order to control the inflammatory response at feto-maternal interface.
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