Stromal Heterogeneity in the Human Proliferative Endometrium-A Single-Cell RNA Sequencing Study.

The endometrium undergoes regular regeneration and stromal proliferation as part of the normal menstrual cycle. To better understand cellular interactions driving the mechanisms in endometrial regeneration we employed single-cell RNA sequencing. Endometrial biopsies were obtained during the proliferative phase of the menstrual cycle from healthy fertile women and processed to single-cell suspensions which were submitted for sequencing. In addition to known endometrial cell types, bioinformatic analysis revealed multiple stromal populations suggestive of specific stromal niches with the ability to control inflammation and extracellular matrix composition. Ten different stromal cells and two pericyte subsets were identified. Applying different R packages (Seurat, SingleR, Velocyto) we established cell cluster diversity and cell lineage/trajectory, while using external data to validate our findings. By understanding healthy regeneration in the described stromal compartments, we aim to identify points of further investigation and possible targets for novel therapy development for benign gynecological disorders affecting endometrial regeneration and proliferation such as endometriosis and Asherman's syndrome.

Patterns of viral infection in honey bee queens.

The well-being of a colony and replenishment of the workers depends on a healthy queen. Diseases in queens are seldom reported, and our knowledge on viral infection in queens is limited. In this study, 86 honey bee queens were collected from beekeepers in Denmark. All queens were tested separately by two real-time PCRs: one for the presence of deformed wing virus (DWV), and one that would detect sequences of acute bee-paralysis virus, Kashmir bee virus and Israeli acute paralysis virus (AKI complex). Worker bees accompanying the queen were also analysed. The queens could be divided into three groups based on the level of infection in their head, thorax, ovary, intestines and spermatheca. Four queens exhibited egg-laying deficiency, but visually all queens appeared healthy. Viral infection was generally at a low level in terms of AKI copy numbers, with 134/430 tissues (31 %) showing the presence of viral infection ranging from 10(1) to 10(5) copies. For DWV, 361/340 tissues (84 %) showed presence of viral infection (DWV copies ranging from 10(2) to 10(12)), with 50 tissues showing viral titres >10(7) copies. For both AKI and DWV, the thorax was the most frequently infected tissue and the ovaries were the least frequently infected. Relative to total mass, the spermatheca showed significantly higher DWV titres than the other tissues. The ovaries had the lowest titre of DWV. No significant differences were found among tissues for AKI. A subsample of 14 queens yielded positive results for the presence of negative-sense RNA strands, thus demonstrating active virus replication in all tissues.