Expression and steroid hormone regulation of TETs and DNMTs in human endometrium

Reproduction ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 160 (2) ◽  
pp. 247-257
Author(s):  
Vishakha Mahajan ◽  
Diana Osavlyuk ◽  
Philip C Logan ◽  
Satya Amirapu ◽  
Anna P Ponnampalam

DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs) and ten-eleven translocation proteins (TETs) facilitate methylation and hydroxymethylation of DNA, respectively. DNMTs are widely studied with conflicting results on their regulation in the endometrium. While the role of TETs in the endometrium remains relatively unexplored. Deregulated expression of TETs and DNMTs are associated with endometrial pathologies. The aim of this study is to characterize the temporal TET expression in endometrium and to determine the hormonal regulation of TETs in comparison to DNMTs. mRNA expressions were quantified by real-time PCR in endometrial tissues from cycling women and localization was determined by immunohistochemistry. Hormonal regulation was investigated in endometrial epithelial and stromal cell lines following a 24 and 48 h treatment cycle. TET1 and 3 mRNA expressions were significantly upregulated in the mid-secretory phase. TET protein expression was ubiquitous in endometrial epithelium throughout the menstrual cycle except during the late-secretory phase, while stromal staining was scattered. TET1 mRNA was significantly upregulated in response to estrogen in stromal cells. Transcriptions of all three TETs were induced in response to progesterone treatment in epithelial cells. Only DNMT3b in epithelial cells and DNMT1 in stromal cells were significantly upregulated upon 24-h estrogen exposure following a significant decrease of DNMT1 when treated with 24 h of estrogen and progesterone. This study suggests that TETs are expressed in a cell-specific, dynamic manner in the endometrium and are responsive to steroid hormones. Investigating the role of TETs individually and with respect to DNMTs, will help to elucidate gene regulatory mechanisms in endometrial biology and pathologies.

Author(s):  
Dariusz Szukiewicz ◽  
Aleksandra Stangret ◽  
Carmen Ruiz-Ruiz ◽  
Enrique G. Olivares ◽  
Olga Soriţău ◽  
...  

AbstractEndometriosis is a common chronic inflammatory condition in which endometrial tissue appears outside the uterine cavity. Because ectopic endometriosis cells express both estrogen and progesterone (P4) receptors, they grow and undergo cyclic proliferation and breakdown similar to the endometrium. This debilitating gynecological disease affects up to 15% of reproductive aged women. Despite many years of research, the etiopathogenesis of endometrial lesions remains unclear. Retrograde transport of the viable menstrual endometrial cells with retained ability for attachment within the pelvic cavity, proliferation, differentiation and subsequent invasion into the surrounding tissue constitutes the rationale for widely accepted implantation theory. Accordingly, the most abundant cells in the endometrium are endometrial stromal cells (EnSCs). These cells constitute a particular population with clonogenic activity that resembles properties of mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs). Thus, a significant role of stem cell-based dysfunction in formation of the initial endometrial lesions is suspected. There is increasing evidence that the role of epigenetic mechanisms and processes in endometriosis have been underestimated. The importance of excess estrogen exposure and P4 resistance in epigenetic homeostasis failure in the endometrial/endometriotic tissue are crucial. Epigenetic alterations regarding transcription factors of estrogen and P4 signaling pathways in MSCs are robust in endometriotic tissue. Thus, perspectives for the future may include MSCs and EnSCs as the targets of epigenetic therapies in the prevention and treatment of endometriosis. Here, we reviewed the current known changes in the epigenetic background of EnSCs and MSCs due to estrogen/P4 imbalances in the context of etiopathogenesis of endometriosis.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guillaume Jacquemin ◽  
Annabelle Wurmser ◽  
Mathilde Huyghe ◽  
Wenjie Sun ◽  
Meghan Perkins ◽  
...  

AbstractTumours are complex ecosystems composed of different types of cells that communicate and influence each other. While the critical role of stromal cells in affecting tumour growth is well established, the impact of mutant cancer cells on healthy surrounding tissues remains poorly defined. Here, we uncovered a paracrine mechanism by which intestinal cancer cells reactivate foetal and regenerative Yap-associated transcriptional programs in neighbouring wildtype epithelial cells, rendering them adapted to thrive in the tumour context. We identified the glycoprotein Thrombospondin-1 (Thbs1) as the essential factor that mediates non-cell autonomous morphological and transcriptional responses. Importantly, Thbs1 is associated with bad prognosis in several human cancers. This study reveals the Thbs1-YAP axis as the mechanistic link mediating paracrine interactions between epithelial cells, promoting tumour formation and progression.


2000 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noriyuki Takai ◽  
Tami Miyazaki ◽  
Isao Miyakawa ◽  
Ryoji Hamanaka

The enzyme, polo-like kinase (PLK), is a mammalian serine/threonine kinase involved in cell cycle regulation. A great deal of evidence regarding the role of PLK in the cell cycle has been obtained through studies of cultured cells, though little is known about its function or even expression in vivo. The endometrium undergoes rapid proliferation and differentiation under ovarian steroid hormone control during the 28-day cycle. Thus, normal endometrium provides an excellent model in which to study the hormone dependency of PLK expression. In the present study, we examined the features of PLK expression in 20 samples of normal human endometrium during the menstrual cycle. The expression of Ki-67 and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) were also examined as markers of proliferation. Immunohistochemical studies showed that PLK staining was detected in the basement membrane of many endometrial glands, stromal cells, and some endothelial cells. The number of PLK-positive endometrial gland cells was significantly higher in the late proliferative phase (19.16% 4.98%) and the early secretory phase (19.28% 4.99%) than in the early proliferative phase (2.60% 2.33%) or the late secretory phase (5.76% 2.16%) (P<0.0001). PLK expression seemed to be correlated with the expression of Ki-67 and PCNA in many endometrial glands and stromal cells particularly in the late proliferative phase, reflecting a role of PLK in cellular proliferation. Nevertheless, in the early secretory phase, at which point the expression of Ki-67 and PCNA decreased in endometrial glands, PLK was strongly expressed. This finding suggests that PLK may have some post-mitotic functions in certain specialized cell types. Although the highest expression of PLK was observed in the late proliferative and the early secretory phases, the expression drastically decreased in the late secretory phase. These findings, taken together, indicate that the expression of PLK in normal endometrium fluctuates over the course of the menstrual cycle, suggesting in turn that PLK is associated with hormone-dependent cellular proliferation and that hormone functions may be involved in its regulation.


Blood ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 84 (8) ◽  
pp. 2531-2538 ◽  
Author(s):  
T Agui ◽  
X Xin ◽  
Y Cai ◽  
T Sakai ◽  
K Matsumoto

Abstract Endothelin (ET) produced by endothelial cells has recently been found to be a potent vasoconstricting hormone. In this report, ET is shown to be a potent stimulator of interleukin-6 (IL-6) production by rat bone marrow (BM)-derived stromal cells. It was also shown that ET increased the level of mRNA for IL-6 in these cells. The two types of ET receptor (R), ETAR and ETBR, were shown to be expressed on both BM-derived stromal cells in culture and ex vivo in BM tissue, suggesting that ET works as a physiologic stimulator of IL-6 production in the BM. It was shown that ETAR is coupled to phospholipase C activation, leading to the production of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3) and 1,2- diacylglycerol (DAG) as second messengers in BM-derived stromal cells. This was corroborated by data showing that IL-6 production in these cells was induced by combined stimulation with ionomycin and phorbol myristate acetate, thereby bypassing the effects of IP3 and DAG, respectively. This is the first report on the hormonal regulation of IL- 6 production by BM stromal cells, indicating that hematopoiesis is subject to endocrinologic regulation under physiologic conditions. ET has recently been reported to be produced by macrophages in response to bacterial lipopolysaccharide and human immunodeficiency virus-1 glycoprotein 120. These facts, taken together with our findings, raise the possibility that ET shares the same role of IL-1 as a local cytokine, mediating an intercellular signal between macrophages and BM stromal cells in response to bacterial or viral stimulation.


2002 ◽  
Vol 70 (11) ◽  
pp. 5965-5971 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Ayala ◽  
Brandi Vasquez ◽  
Lee Wetzler ◽  
Magdalene So

ABSTRACT The immunoglobulin A (IgA) protease secreted by pathogenic Neisseria spp. cleaves Lamp1, thereby altering lysosomes in a cell and promoting bacterial intracellular survival. We sought to determine how the IgA protease gains access to cellular Lamp1 in order to better understand the role of this cleavage event in bacterial infection. In a previous report, we demonstrated that the pilus-induced Ca2+ transient triggers lysosome exocytosis in human epithelial cells. This, in turn, increases the level of Lamp1 at the plasma membrane, where it can be cleaved by IgA protease. Here, we show that porin also induces a Ca2+ flux in epithelial cells. This transient is similar in nature to that observed in phagocytes exposed to porin. In contrast to the pilus-induced Ca2+ transient, the porin-induced event does not trigger lysosome exocytosis. Instead, it stimulates exocytosis of early and late endosomes and increases Lamp1 on the cell surface. These results indicate that Neisseria pili and porin perturb Lamp1 trafficking in epithelial cells by triggering separate and distinct Ca2+-dependent exocytic events, bringing Lamp1 to the cell surface, where it can be cleaved by IgA protease.


2009 ◽  
Vol 21 (9) ◽  
pp. 128
Author(s):  
G. Nie ◽  
Y. Li ◽  
L. A. Salamonsen ◽  
C. Simon ◽  
A. Quiñonero ◽  
...  

Successful embryo implantation is an important step in establishing pregnancy, requiring a healthy embryo and a receptive endometrium. Establishment of endometrial receptivity involves morphological and physiological changes initially in the endometrial epithelium, but the underlying molecular mechanisms are not fully understood. We have previously demonstrated that proprotein convertase 5/6 (PC6), a member of the proprotein convertase (PC) family, is up-regulated in the endometrium specifically at implantation in association with epithelial differentiation, in the human and monkey. PCs convert a range of precursor proteins of important functions into their bioactive forms; they are thus regarded as critical “master switch” molecules. The present study aimed to determine whether PC6 is a critical regulator in the endometrial epithelium for receptivity and implantation. We examined whether endometrial epithelial PC6 dys-regulation is associated with implantation failure in women and whether knockdown of PC6 by siRNA in human endometrial epithelial cells affects embryo adhesion in a cell culture model. Endometrial PC6 expression was assessed by immunohistochemistry in the mid-secretory phase of the menstrual cycle (receptive phase) in two unique clinical cohorts comprising women of known fertility and infertility (with no obvious gynecological disorders, and with fertile males). Endometrial epithelial PC6 levels were significantly lower in infertile vs fertile women in both cohorts. To further establish that PC6 is important for receptivity, a cell model relevant to human implantation was used involving co-culture of uterine epithelial cells with mouse embryos. The epithelial cells were stably transfected with PC6 siRNA and PC6 knock down was confirmed at the levels of mRNA, protein, and activity by real-time RT-PCR, Western blotting and activity assay respectively. Embryos readily adhered to normal epithelial cells, but the adhesion was significantly reduced in the PC6 knockdown epithelial cells. We are currently using proteomics technology to identify the pathways affected by PC6 knockdown. These results strongly suggest that PC6 plays a critical role in modulating the human endometrial epithelium for receptivity and implantation.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liat Medina ◽  
Alex Rabinovich ◽  
Benjamin Piura ◽  
Victor Dyomin ◽  
Ruthy Shaco Levy ◽  
...  

Proinflammatory cytokine IL-18 has been shown to be elevated in the sera of ovarian carcinoma patients. The aim of the study was to examine the levels and cellular origin of IL-18, IL-18 binding protein, and IL-18 receptor in normal and cancerous ovarian tissues. Ovarian tissue samples were examined by immunohistochemical staining for IL-18, IL-18BP, and IL-18R and mRNA of these cytokines was analyzed with semiquantitative PT-PCR. IL-18 levels were significantly higher in cancerous ovarian tissues (P=0.0007), IL-18BP levels were significantly higher in normal ovarian tissues (P=0.04), and the ratio of IL-18/IL-18BP was significantly higher in cancerous ovarian tissues (P=0.036). Cancerous ovarian tissues expressed significantly higher IL-18 mRNA levels (P=0.025), while there was no difference in the expression of IL-18BP mRNA and IL-18R mRNA between cancerous and normal ovarian tissues. IL-18 and IL-18BP were expressed dominantly in the epithelial cells of both cancerous and normal ovarian tissues, while IL-18R was expressed dominantly in the epithelial cells of cancerous ovarian tissues but expressed similarly in the epithelial and stromal cells of normal cancerous tissues. This study indicates a possible role of IL-18, IL-18BP, and IL-18R in the pathogenesis of epithelial ovarian carcinoma.


1997 ◽  
Vol 110 (5) ◽  
pp. 589-596 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Sato ◽  
M. del Carmen Ovejero ◽  
P. Hou ◽  
A.M. Heegaard ◽  
M. Kumegawa ◽  
...  

The osteoclasts are the cells responsible for bone resorption. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) appear crucial for this process. To identify possible MMP expression in osteoclasts, we amplified osteoclast cDNA fragments having homology with MMP genes, and used them as a probe to screen a rabbit osteoclast cDNA library. We obtained a cDNA of 1,972 bp encoding a polypeptide of 582 amino acids that showed more than 92% identity to human, mouse, and rat membrane-type 1 MMP (MT1-MMP), a cell surface proteinase believed to trigger cancer cell invasion. By northern blotting, MT1-MMP was found to be highly expressed in purified osteoclasts when compared with alveolar macrophages and bone stromal cells, as well as with various tissues. In situ hybridization on bone sections showed that MT1-MMP is expressed also in osteoclasts in vivo. Antibodies recognizing MT1-MMP reacted with specific plasma membrane areas corresponding to lamellipodia and podosomes involved, respectively, in migratory and attachment activities of the osteoclasts. These observations highlight how cells might bring MT1-MMP into contact with focal points of the extracellular matrix, and are compatible with a role of MT1-MMP in migratory and attachment activities of the osteoclast.


2001 ◽  
Vol 15 (12) ◽  
pp. 2093-2105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sijun Yang ◽  
Zongjuan Fang ◽  
Bilgin Gurates ◽  
Mitsutoshi Tamura ◽  
Josephine Miller ◽  
...  

Abstract Progesterone stimulates the expression of 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (HSD) type 2, which catalyzes the conversion of the potent estrogen, E2, to an inactive form, estrone, in epithelial cells of human endometrial tissue. Various effects of progesterone on uterine epithelium have recently been shown to be mediated by stromal PRs in mice. We describe herein a critical paracrine mechanism whereby progesterone induction of 17β-HSD type 2 enzyme activity, transcript levels, and promoter activity in human endometrial epithelial cells are mediated primarily by PR in endometrial stromal cells. Medium conditioned with progestin-pretreated human endometrial stromal cells robustly increased 17β-HSD type 2 enzyme activity (2-fold) and mRNA levels (13.2-fold) in Ishikawa malignant endometrial epithelial cells. In contrast, direct progestin treatment of Ishikawa epithelial cells gave rise to much smaller increases in enzyme activity (1.2-fold) and mRNA levels (4-fold). These results suggest that progesterone- dependent paracrine factors arising from stromal cells are primarily responsible for the induction of epithelial 17β-HSD type 2 expression in the endometrium. We transfected serial deletion mutants of the −1,244 bp 5′-flanking region of the 17β-HSD type 2 gene into Ishikawa cells. No progesterone response elements could be identified upstream of the 17β-HSD type 2 promoter. Stromal PR-dependent induction of the 17β-HSD type 2 promoter was mediated by a critical regulatory region mapped to the −200/−100 bp sequence. Direct treatment of Ishikawa cells with progestin gave rise to a maximal increase in the activity of −200 bp/Luciferase construct only by 1.2-fold, whereas medium conditioned by progestin-pretreated endometrial stromal cells increased promoter activity up to 2.4-fold in a time- and concentration-dependent manner. The stimulatory effect of medium conditioned by progestin-pretreated stromal cells was enhanced strikingly by increasing stromal cell PR levels with the addition of estrogen. This epithelial-stromal interaction was specific for endometrial epithelial cells, since 17β-HSD type 2 could not be induced in malignant breast epithelial cells by media conditioned with progestin-treated breast or endometrial stromal cells. In conclusion, progesterone regulates the conversion of biologically active E2 to estrone by inducing the 17β-HSD type 2 enzyme in human endometrial epithelium primarily via PR in stromal cells, which secrete factors that induce transcription mediated primarily by the −200/−100 bp 5′-regulatory region of the 17β-HSD type 2 promoter.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document