engleski

Progesterone modulation of osteopontin expression in early pregnancy

The progesterone responsiveness is determined mainly by the extent of expression of the specific progesterone receptors termed PR-A and PR-B that are members of the nuclear receptor superfamily of transcription factors. Genetically modified mice missing both PR-A and PR-B, or only PR-A protein are infertile as a result of pleiotropic reproductive abnormalities including implantation and decidualisation which involve pregnancy specific remodeling of extracellular matrix at the fetal-maternal interface. Gene expression profiling of pre-receptive versus receptive endometria obtained from human and mouse uterine tissue has identified osteopontin (secreted phosphoprotein 1) as the most differentially regulated ECM-adhesion molecule in the human uterus as it becomes receptive to implantation. Osteopontin is a chemokine-like ECM associated glycosylated phosphoprotein which binds to integrin receptors via its RGD sequence to promote cell adhesion and migration. It can also function as a citokin which suggest that there might be two isoforms. The objective of this study is to analyze the role of progesterone signaling in the regulation of osteopontin expression in early pregnancy in mice. We found that expression of endometrial osteopontin is estrogen and progesterone regulated. Our immunofluorescence results indicate the presence of two osteopontin isoforms in uterine stromal and decidual cells and our hipotesis was that they are some kind of uterine immune cells. In this study we also wanted to identify this cells and to confirm the presence of two osteopontin isoforms.

progesterone; osteopontin; endometria; pregnancy

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