Fig. 5

AREG⁺ NK cell accelerates decidualization by interacting with IGF1⁺ stromal cells. A UMAP map of five sub-clusters of NK cells. B Bubble diagram showing the average expression of marker genes for five sub-clusters of NK cells. C Heat map showing relative expression (z-score) of selected genes for five sub-clusters of NK cells. D The PPI network of AREG, IGF1, CSF1, and other related genes. E Primary decidual NK cells were treated with rh-AREG (100 ng/mL) or vehicle for 48 h. The proportion of CSF1⁺ NK cells were analyzed by flow cytometry (n = 6). Data were presented as mean ± SEM and analyzed by t test. (ns, no significance, ***, p < 0.001). F hESCs were treated with the rh-AREG (100 ng/mL) or vehicle for 48 h. And then the mRNA expression levels of IGF1 in hESCs were measured by qRT-PCR (n = 6). Data were presented as mean ± SEM and analyzed by t test. (***, p < 0.001). G Schematic cell interactions in endometrium between AREG⁺ NK cells and IGF1⁺ stromal cells during decidualization