Journal: bioRxiv
Article Title: Induction of cervical dysfunction associated with preterm birth by IL-1 and dysbiotic microbiome revealed in human endocervix chips
doi: 10.1101/2025.05.01.651107
Figure Lengend Snippet: A) Immunofluorescence microscopic top-view images of the epithelium within Endocervix Chips showing Ulex Europaeus Agglutinin I (UEA I)-stained mucus after 24 hours without (control) or with exposure to a cytokine mixture of IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8 & TNF-α (bar, 180 μm) and bar graph at the right showing quantification of fluorescence intensities (-, control; +, with cytokines; 6 non-overlapping fields of view; N=3 chips; Mean ± SD, t -test). B) Graph showing levels MUC5B and MUC5AC gene expression determined by qRT-PCR in Endocervix Chip epithelia 24 hours after perfusion with cytokine mixture shown in A (N=6 chips, 2 donors, 2 independent repeats, Mean ± SD, t -test). Data were normalized to housekeeping genes and control chips (ΔΔCt). C) Immunofluorescence microscopic images of the Endocervix Chip stroma stained with F-actin (magenta) and Hoechst (nuclei, cyan) (bar, 100 μm). D) Graph showing levels of PTGS2 , PGR , and COL1A1 gene expression in PAH-perfused Endocervix Chip stroma with (+) and without (-) cytokine treatment (N=6-10 chips, 2-3 donors with results from each donor labeled as ○, □ or Δ;). Data normalized to housekeeping genes and control chips (ΔΔCt, Mean ± SD, t -test). E) Representative second harmonic microscopic images (left) of fibrillar collagen within the stroma in the basal channel of control and cytokine-perfused Endocervix Chips (bar, 100 μm) with quantification shown in the bar graph at the right (-, control; +, with cytokines; 9-10 non-overlapping fields of view, N=3 chips, Mean ± SD, t -test). F) Gene expression levels expressed as count per million (CPM)-normalized counts of IL-8 ( CXCR1 , CXCR2 ), IL-1 ( IL1R1 , IL1R2 ), IL-6 ( IL6R ), and TNF-α ( TNFRSF1A , TNFRSF1B ) receptors in the Endocervix Chip epithelium (white bars) and stroma (light grey). (N=10 chips, 3 donors, Mean ± SD, Two-way ANOVA with multiple comparisons).
Article Snippet: To assess the effect of inflammatory cytokines on mucus production, live chips were removed from Pods and exposed apically to 150μl of the lectin Ulex Europaeus Agglutinin I (UEA I), Rhodamine (Vector Laboratories, RL-1062-2) resuspended in HBSS++ at 10μg/ml (1:200 dilution) for 20 minutes at 37°C by gravity flow followed by two gravity washes with 150μl HBSS++.
Techniques: Immunofluorescence, Staining, Control, Fluorescence, Gene Expression, Quantitative RT-PCR, Labeling