Skip Navigation


Hum. Reprod. Advance Access originally published online on February 25, 2005
Human Reproduction 2005 20(6):1709-1719; doi:10.1093/humrep/deh824
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF ) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
20/6/1709    most recent
deh824v1
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (6)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Li, A.
Right arrow Articles by Jain, J.K.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Li, A.
Right arrow Articles by Jain, J.K.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions{at}oupjournals.org

Menstrual-like breakdown and apoptosis in human endometrial explants

A. Li1, J.C. Felix1,2, J. Hao1, P. Minoo3 and J.K. Jain1,4

Department of 1Obstetrics and Gynecology, 2 Pathology and 3 Pediatrics, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA

4 To whom correspondence should be addressed at: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, 1240 Mission Street, Room 1M20, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA. Email: jjain{at}usc.edu

BACKGROUND: Apoptosis occurs in late secretory and menstrual human endometrium and is thought to play an important role in endometrial physiology. Menstrual-like breakdown has been observed in vitro in endometrial explants. The purpose of this study was to assess the role of apoptosis in menstrual-like breakdown in human endometrial explants. METHODS: Human endometrial tissue was obtained during the mid-secretory phase and cultured with or without estrogen and progesterone. The occurrence of breakdown was assessed by histology. Apoptosis was determined by gel electrophoresis for the detection of DNA fragmentation and by immunohistochemistry using the M30 CytoDEATH and anti-cleaved caspase-3 (CASP3) antibodies for the detection of caspase activity. Expression of BCL2 and BAX was quantified using real-time PCR analysis. RESULTS: Apoptosis occurred in human endometrial explants at all time-points studied. Cleaved CASP3 and M30 antigen expression increased in all explants, suggesting the involvement of CASP3 in the apoptosis. Low BCL2:BAX ratios were observed in all samples when compared with pre-culture controls. Estradiol and progesterone supplementation of the culture media reduced or eliminated menstrual-like breakdown but did not affect the degree of apoptosis observed. CONCLUSIONS: The apoptosis observed in endometrium during the late secretory phase and menstrual phase does not appear to be mechanistically related to the tissue breakdown but rather may be involved in the impending remodelling that occurs in the endometrium in the transition from secretory to proliferative phase following the menses.

Key words: apoptosis/BCL2:BAX ratio/caspase activity/endometrial explant/menstrual breakdown


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Hum ReprodHome page
X.B. Xu, B. He, and J.D. Wang
Menstrual-like changes in mice are provoked through the pharmacologic withdrawal of progesterone using mifepristone following induction of decidualization
Hum. Reprod., December 1, 2007; 22(12): 3184 - 3191.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Hum ReprodHome page
C. Avellaira, A. Villavicencio, K. Bacallao, F. Gabler, P. Wells, C. Romero, and M. Vega
Expression of molecules associated with tissue homeostasis in secretory endometria from untreated women with polycystic ovary syndrome
Hum. Reprod., December 1, 2006; 21(12): 3116 - 3121.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Hum ReprodHome page
J. K. Jain, A. Li, W. Yang, P. Minoo, and J. C. Felix
Effects of mifepristone on proliferation and apoptosis of human endometrium in new users of medroxyprogesterone acetate
Hum. Reprod., March 1, 2006; 21(3): 798 - 809.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.