Abstract
Parturition involves the transformation of the quiescent myometrium into a highly excitable and contractile state, a process that is driven by changes in myometrial gene expression. This study aimed to identify myometrial transcriptomic signatures and potential novel hub genes in parturition, which have great significance for understanding the underlying mechanisms of successful parturition and treating labor-associated pathologies such as preterm birth. In our study, comparative transcriptome analysis was carried out on human myometrial tissues collected from women undergoing caesarean section at term in the presence (TL = 8) and absence of labor (TNL = 8). A total of 582 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between TL and TNL tissues were identified. Gene ontology (GO), Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) and gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) revealed that the DEGs were enriched in signal transduction, regulation of signaling receptor activity, inflammatory response, cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, IL-17 signaling pathway, TNF signaling pathway, among others. Thus, transcriptome analysis of the myometrium during term labor revealed that labor onset was associated with an inflammatory response. Moreover, protein-protein interactions network analysis identified FPR1, CXCL8, CXCL1, BDKRB2, BDKRB1, and CXCL2 as the hub genes associated with onset of labor. Formyl peptide receptor 1 (FPR1) was highly expressed in laboring myometrial tissues, with the activation of FPR1 in vitro experiments resulting in increased myometrial contraction. Our findings demonstrate the novel role of FPR1 as a modulator of myometrial contraction.