The Mechanism of Wnt Pathway Regulated by Telocytes to Promote the Regeneration and Repair of Intrauterine Adhesions

Abstract

Background. Telocytes (TCs), a novel interstitial cell type in the reproductive tract, participating in pathophysiology of intrauterine adhesions (IUA). This study further investigates the hypothesis that TCs, a source of Wnt, promote the regeneration and repair of IUA. Methods. RNA sequencing datasets of IUA patient (GSE160633) and mouse intestine mesenchymal cells (GSE94072) in GEO database were analyzed for differentially expressed genes (DEGs), and quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) measured indicated gene expression in TC-educated endometrial stromal cells (ESCs) and noneducated ESCs and verified the results of data mining from GEO database. Results. The expression levels of Wnt genes were downregulated in IUA compared to the control and were upregulated in TCs. In particular, the changes of Wnt5a expression level were the most significant ( $\text{logFC}=4.0314$ and adjusted $P$ value = 0.0023), and the relative Wnt5a expression level was remarkably higher in TC-educated ESCs than noneducated ESCs verified by qRT-PCR ( $P=0.0027$ ). Conclusions. TCs may enhance the regeneration and repair of IUA through the Wnt signaling pathway.