Expression of Survivin in Early Villus and Decidua and Its Implication

Survivin isa newly found memberof inhibitorofapoptosis proteins(IAP) ,which is independent ofBcl- 2 proteins,and is expressed in most human ma-lignancy,being abundant in mouse and human em-bryonic and fetal tissues and undetectable in normaladult tissues.Survivin has been shown to be presentin 6 0 cancer celllines,including breast,lung,renal,prostate and ovarian[1] .It hasbeen reported thattheexpression of survivin protein washigh in the glandu-lar epithelial cells during secretory phase of h…     

雌性大鼠、小鼠生殖系统与人子宫内膜甾体激素分泌细胞的研究

对雌性大鼠、小鼠的生殖系统,人的子宫内膜与蜕膜进行了3-β-羟基甾体脱氢酶(3-β-HSDH)和脂类的组织化学研究。结果表明:在大鼠和小鼠的卵巢内,颗粒黄体细胞和膜黄体细胞3-β-HSDH呈强阳性反应,卵泡膜内层细胞与间质细胞呈中等程度阳性反应;大鼠与小鼠子宫内膜的表面上皮与腺上皮呈阳性反应;人早孕期蜕膜中的子宫腺上皮细胞与大蜕膜细胞呈阳性反应:在大鼠与小鼠的输卵中偶尔见到阳性反应物质;在人的子宫内膜中,没有见到阳性反应。本研究证明,雌性大鼠和小鼠除卵巢有分泌甾体素的功能外,子宫也有分泌甾体激素的功能。人早孕期蜕膜组织中的子宫腺与大蜕膜细胞都能分泌甾体激素。     

A Subset of Patients With Recurrent Spontaneous Abortion Is Deficient in Transforming Growth Factor β-2-Producing “Suppressor Cells” in Uterine Tissue Near the Placental Attachment Site

PROBLEM : To determine if patients with unexplained recurrent miscarriage have a deficiency of decidual immunosuppressor cells that produce transforming growth factor β type 2, as has been found in mice with abortion due to rejection and/or trophoblast failure. METHODS : Decidual biopsy specimens were taken as near to the placental attachment site as possible under ultrasound guidance from first trimester legal termination (control) patients with recurrent miscarriage and non-viable pregnancy, and from patients with sporadic missed abortion. The tissue was tested for TGFβ-2⁺ suppressor cells by in situ hybridization, immunohistochemistry, and analysis of supernatants. RESULTS : TGFβ-2-related suppressor molecules similar but not identical to those identified in pregnant mice were released by decidual lymphoid cells. Fifty percent of 14 recurrent miscarriage patients showed a lack of suppressor cells and 59% were subnormal in comparison to 20 controls and 5 sporadic miscarriage patients, where 80–85% of the patients had detectable suppressor cells. CONCLUSIONS : Suppressor cell deficiency is compatible with a role for rejection and/or trophoblast failure in some patients with recurrent miscarriage. Presence of suppressor cells in most patients with missed abortion (4/5) is compatible with an alternative cause of fetal death, similar to findings reported in genetic fetal death mice.     

子宫外蜕膜结节的病理学观察

采用ＰＡＳ、波形蛋白（ｖｉｍｅｎｔｉｎ）、上皮膜抗原（ＥＭＡ）、雌激素抗体（ＥＲ）和孕酮抗体（ＰＲ），对３例卵巢蜕膜结节（其中２例伴有腹膜结节），进行了免疫组织化学染色和光镜观察。结果３例均表达波形蛋白，而上皮膜呈阴性，支持蜕膜样细胞来源于体腔上皮。雌激素受体和孕激素受体显强阳性。说明妊娠期间，雌激素和孕激素的大量存在对异位蜕膜的形成和生长具有决定性的作用。     

Desmin as an immunochemical marker of human decidual cells and its expression in menstrual fluid

The expression of intermediate filament proteins in human endometrial tissue was examined. Desmin was selectively expressed in decidualized stroma, as demonstrated by SDS-PAGE analysis and positive response with a monoclonal antibody specific for desmin in ELISA and in western blot analysis. The same monoclonal antibody specifically stained human decidual cells in decidualized endometrium (secretory endometrium) in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded sections prepared from diagnostic curettage samples. Desmin was also detected in menstrual fluid. Therefore, desmin might serve as a biochemical and histochemical marker of human decidualized endometrium.     

Interleukin-11 expression: its significance in eutopic and ectopic human implantation

Embryo implantation and subsequent decidualization, trophoblast invasion and formation of a functional placenta are crucial for establishment and maintenance of pregnancy. Interleukin-11 signalling has been shown to be obligatory for adequate decidualization and trophoblast invasion in mice. Defects in IL-11 signalling in mice result in trophoblast over-invasion and fetal loss. The pathological situation of human tubal pregnancy resembles that of IL-11Ralpha(-/-) mice concerning these symptoms. As our interest is focused on the human early pregnancy, we compared IL-11 expression at the implantation site of ectopic tubal pregnancy (EP) to 1st and 2nd trimester of normal intrauterine pregnancies (IP), and to the normal cycling endometrium. The mRNA expression of IL-11 and IL-11Ralpha was analysed by semiquantitative RT-PCR. Protein expression was detected by western blotting and immunohistochemistry. IL-11Ralpha is expressed constitutively in all tissue specimens analysed. IL-11 is expressed predominantly during follicular and early luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. In IP, IL-11 expression peaks during the 1st trimester and declines from the beginning of the 2nd trimester onwards. In tubal abortions, IL-11 expression is reduced in comparison to vital EP and IP. Cultured primary endometrial and decidual epithelial cells were analysed for hormonal regulation of IL-11 by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and RT-PCR. IL-11 is up-regulated by estrogen and down-regulated by progesterone. Overall, our results indicate that in humans, IL-11 signalling is significantly involved in regulation of trophoblast invasion. In the case of tubal abortion, inadequate IL-11 signalling may therefore result in dysregulation of trophoblast invasion.     

Differentiation of endometrial stromal cells in vitro: down-regulation of suppression of the cell cycle inhibitor p57 by HOXA10?

Decidualization is a critical step during embryo implantation that is characterized by the differentiation of endometrial stromal cells (ESC) into decidua cells. However, the mechanism of differentiation remains largely unknown. Previously, it has been shown that the null function of homeo box A10 (HOXA10) causes defects in both implantation and decidualization, suggesting that the HOXA10 signalling pathway is likely to be involved in uterine decidualization. In the present study, we determined the expression and subcellular distribution of HOXA10 and its downstream molecule, p57, in ESC during in vitro decidualization induced by a combination of 8-bromo-cAMP and medroxyprogesterone acetate. We demonstrated that the HOXA10 was down-regulated while in contrast, p57 was up-regulated in the process of decidualization. Immunocytochemistry and transient expression of the HOXA10 tagged with green fluorescence protein revealed that there were no differences in the HOXA10 subcellular localization between the induced and non-induced ESC. Our results suggest that the down-regulation of HOXA10 may contribute to increased p57 and that up-regulation of p57 likely plays an important role in ESC differentiation in the process of decidualization. The progesterone receptor pathway may participate in promoting ESC to exit the cell cycle and enter differentiation.     

Constitutive Secretion of Interleukin-6 by Human Decidual Stromal Cells in Culture. Regulatory Effect of Progesterone

PROBLEM : Although several studies have demonstrated that decidual stromal cells (DSC) can secrete cytokines in culture, none of these studies documented the purity of the cultures. Since other cells of the decidua, such as macrophages and epithelial cells, also produce cytokines, it is important to ensure purity of the culture so that cytokine production can be ascribed with confidence to DSC. METHOD : DSC from early human pregnancies were highly purified and maintained in culture. Basal secretion by these cells of IL-6, together with other cytokines considered critical for pregnancy (IL-1β, TNFα and IFNγ), was measured with immunological techniques. RESULTS : We found that DSC in culture produce insignificant quantities of IL-1β, TNFá and IFNΓ, but appreciable amounts of IL-6. The production of this later cytokine was, however, inhibited by the effect of progesterone. CONCLUSIONS : Basal production of IL-6 by DSC may be involved in physiological functions at the maternal-fetal interface. Nevertheless, the secretion of this cytokine is regulated by progesterone, probably to prevent excessive production of this cytokine from triggering an inflammatory response that might compromise pregnancy.     

妊娠早期妇女绒毛与蜕膜组织中P物质含量的测定

本实验应用放射免疫方法,测定了妊娠早期妇女绒毛与蜕膜组织中Ｐ物质（ＳｕｂｓｔａｎｃｅＰ,ｓｐ）的含量。结果提示,妊娠早期妇女绒毛与蜕膜组织中含有ＳＰ,绒毛组织中ＳＰ含量为（１３．５７±０．９４）ｐｇ／ｍｇ湿重组织,蜕膜组织中ＳＰ含量为（１３．８６±０．６５）ｐｇ／ｍｇ湿重组织,两组间比较无显著性差异（Ｐ＞０．０５）。绒毛与蜕膜组织中含有ＳＰ的结果提示,ＳＰ在妊娠这一复杂的生理过程中也起重要作用。