The role of decidual mesenchymal stem/stromal cell ageing in labour

Abstract

Ageing and parturition share many common pathways, but whether these two processes are associated, or even dependent on each other, is poorly understood. This study focuses on the decidua, where there is evidence that decidual cells undergo ageing as parturition approaches term, and these ageing-related changes of the decidua may trigger labour. Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) are a type of stem cell that reside in the decidua. Ageing of decidual MSCs (DMSCs) may contribute to the functional and molecular changes in decidual tissue required for spontaneous onset of labour (SOL) at term. The objective of this study was to determine whether DMSCs from patients experiencing SOL show evide..