Inhibition of METTL3/m6A/miR126 promotes the migration and invasion of endometrial stromal cells in endometriosis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoou Li ◽  
Wenqian Xiong ◽  
Xuefeng Long ◽  
Xin Dai ◽  
Yuan Peng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stromal Cells ◽  
Therapeutic Target ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Cellular Migration ◽  
Migration And Invasion ◽  
Diagnostic Biomarker ◽  
Rna Modifications ◽  
Normal Endometrium ◽  
Endometrial Stromal Cells ◽  
Ectopic Endometrium

Abstract N6-methyladenosine (m6A), one of the most abundant RNA modifications, is involved in the progression of many diseases, but its role and related molecular mechanisms in endometriosis remain unknown. To address these issues, we detected m6A levels in normal, eutopic and ectopic endometrium and found the m6A levels decreased in eutopic and ectopic endometrium compared with normal endometrium. In addition, we proved that methyltransferase-like 3 (METTL3) downregulation accounted for m6A reduction in endometriosis. Furthermore, we observed that METTL3 knockdown facilitated the migration and invasion of human endometrial stromal cells (HESCs), while METTL3 overexpression exerted opposite effects, suggesting that METTL3 downregulation might contribute to endometriosis development by enhancing cellular migration and invasion. Mechanistically, METTL3-dependent m6A was involved in the DGCR8-mediated maturation of primary microRNA126 (miR126, pri-miR126). Moreover, miR126 inhibitor significantly enhanced the migration and invasion of METTL3-overexpressing HESCs, whereas miR126 mimics attenuated the migration and invasion of METTL3-silenced HESCs. Our study revealed the METTL3/m6A/miR126 pathway, whose inhibition might contribute to endometriosis development by enhancing cellular migration and invasion. It also showed that METTL3 might be a novel diagnostic biomarker and therapeutic target for endometriosis.

scholarly journals Hypoxia-inducible factor-1α promotes endometrial stromal cells migration and invasion by upregulating autophagy in endometriosis

Reproduction ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 153 (6) ◽  
pp. 809-820 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hengwei Liu ◽  
Zhibing Zhang ◽  
Wenqian Xiong ◽  
Ling Zhang ◽  
Yao Xiong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stromal Cells ◽  
Hypoxia Inducible Factor ◽  
Migration And Invasion ◽  
Dependent Manner ◽  
Ovarian Endometriosis ◽  
Endometrial Stromal Cells ◽  
Hypoxia Inducible Factor 1Α ◽  
Gynecological Disease ◽  
Benign Gynecological Disease ◽  
Ectopic Endometrium

Endometriosis is a benign gynecological disease that shares some characteristics with malignancy like migration and invasion. It has been reported that both hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) and autophagy were upregulated in ectopic endometrium of patients with ovarian endometriosis. However, the crosstalk between HIF-1α and autophagy in the pathogenesis of endometriosis remains to be clarified. Accordingly, we investigated whether autophagy was regulated by HIF-1α, as well as whether the effect of HIF-1α on cell migration and invasion is mediated through autophagy upregulation. Here, we found that ectopic endometrium from patients with endometriosis highly expressed HIF-1α and autophagy-related protein LC3. In cultured human endometrial stromal cells (HESCs), autophagy was induced by hypoxia in a time-dependent manner and autophagy activation was dependent on HIF-1α. In addition, migration and invasion ability of HESCs were enhanced by hypoxia treatment, whereas knockdown of HIF-1α attenuated this effect. Furthermore, inhibiting autophagy with specific inhibitors and Beclin1 siRNA attenuated hypoxia triggered migration and invasion of HESCs. Taken together, these results suggest that HIF-1α promotes HESCs invasion and metastasis by upregulating autophagy. Thus, autophagy may be involved in the pathogenesis of endometriosis and inhibition of autophagy might be a novel therapeutic approach to the treatment of endometriosis.

Endometrial stromal cell proteomic analysis reveals LIM and SH3 protein 1 (LASP1) plays important roles in the progression of adenomyosis

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Faying Liu ◽  
Zengming Li ◽  
Jiubai Guo ◽  
Shufen Fang ◽  
Jiangyan Zhou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cell Proliferation ◽  
Stromal Cells ◽  
Protein Identification ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Migration And Invasion ◽  
Dna Hypermethylation ◽  
Two Dimensional Gel Electrophoresis ◽  
Endometrial Stromal Cells ◽  
Invasion And Migration ◽  
Molecular Events

Abstract Adenomyosis is one of the most common gynecological disorders that the molecular events underlying its pathogenesis remain not fully understood. Prior studies have shown that endometrial stromal cells (ESCs) played crucial roles in the pathogenesis of adenomyosis. In this study, we utilized two-dimensional gel electrophoresis combined with protein identification by mass spectrometry (2D/MS) proteomics analysis to compare the differential protein expression profile between the paired eutopic and ectopic ESCs (EuESCs and EcESCs) in adenomyosis, and a total of 32 significantly altered protein spots were identified. Among which, the expression of LIM and SH3 protein 1 (LASP1) was increased significantly in EcESCs compared to EuESCs. Immunohistochemical assay showed that LASP1 was overexpressed in the stromal cells of ectopic endometriums compared to eutopic endometriums; further functional analyses revealed that LASP1 overexpression could enhance cell proliferation, migration and invasion of EcESCs. Furthermore, we also showed that the dysregulated expression of LASP1 in EcESCs was associated with DNA hypermethylation in the promoter region of the LASP1 gene. However, the detailed molecular mechanisms of enhancing cell proliferation, invasion and migration caused by upregulated LASP1 in adenomyosis needs further study. For the first time, our data suggested that LASP1 plays important roles in the pathogenesis of adenomyosis, and could serve as a prognostic biomarker of adenomyosis.

scholarly journals MicroRNA-342 Promotes the Malignant-Like Phenotype of Endometrial Stromal Cells via Regulation of Annexin A2

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Dan Sun ◽  
Yiting Wang ◽  
Li Wang ◽  
Xin Guo
Keyword(s):  
Cell Proliferation ◽  
Signaling Pathway ◽  
Stromal Cells ◽  
Annexin A2 ◽  
Mtor Signaling ◽  
Luciferase Reporter ◽  
Migration And Invasion ◽  
Mtor Signaling Pathway ◽  
Normal Endometrium ◽  
Endometrial Stromal Cells

The relevance of miRNA- (miR-) 342 to endometriosis has been highlighted, while its function in regulating the malignant-like phenotype of endometrial stromal cells which demonstrate epigenetic abnormalities that alter expression of transcription factors, remains unclear. Therefore, we sought to characterize the effects of miR-342 in endometrial stromal cell proliferation by regulating Annexin A2 (ANXA2). We first characterized the levels of miR-342 and ANXA2 in 31 cases of normal endometrium from patients with grade II-III cervical intraepithelial neoplasia or patients with hysterectomy versus ectopic endometrial tissues of 42 patients with endometriosis. miR-342 was upregulated, while ANXA2 was downregulated in ectopic endometrial tissues. Bioinformatics website and dual-luciferase reporter assay revealed that miR-342 negatively modulated ANXA2 expression. Following loss- and gain-of-function approaches, CCK-8, Transwell, and flow cytometry demonstrated that overexpression of miR-342 markedly increased cell proliferation, migration, and invasion but inhibited cell apoptotic ratio of endometrial stromal cells, which was reversed by ANXA2 elevation. Further, overexpressed miR-342 activated the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway, as evidenced by upregulated levels of p-PI3K/PI3K, p-AKT/AKT, and p-mTOR/mTOR. Taken together, miR-342 targets ANXA2 to activate the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway, thereby promoting the malignant-like phenotype of endometrial stromal cells, highlighting miR-342 inhibition as a promising approach for the treatment of endometriosis.

PGE2 and thrombin induce myofibroblast transdifferentiation via activinA and CTGF in endometrial stromal cells

Endocrinology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuya Kusama ◽  
Yuta Fukushima ◽  
Kanoko Yoshida ◽  
Mana Azumi ◽  
Mikihiro Yoshie ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stromal Cells ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Type I Collagen ◽  
Activin A ◽  
Tissue Growth ◽  
Marker Genes ◽  
Type I ◽  
Endometrial Stromal Cells ◽  
Mesenchymal Transition ◽  
Endometrial Cells

Abstract Endometriosis is characterized by inflammation and fibrotic changes. Our previous study using a mouse model showed that proinflammatory factors present in peritoneal hemorrhage exacerbated inflammation in endometriosis-like grafts, at least in part through the activation of prostaglandin (PG) E2 receptor and protease-activated receptor (PAR). In addition, menstruation-related factors, PGE2 and thrombin, a PAR1 agonist (P/T) induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of endometrial cells under hypoxia. However, the molecular mechanisms by which P/T induce development of endometriosis have not been fully characterized. To investigate the effects of P/T, RNA extracted from endometrial stromal cells (ESCs) treated with P/T were subjected to RNA sequence analysis, and identified activin A, FOS, GATA2 as upregulated genes. Activin A increased the expression of connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) and mesenchymal marker genes in ESCs. CTGF induced the expression of fibrosis marker type I collagen, fibronectin, and α-smooth muscle actin (αSMA), indicating fibroblast to myofibroblast transdifferentiation (FMT) of ESCs. In addition, activin A, FOS, GATA2, CTGF, and αSMA were localized in endometriosis lesions. Taken together, our data show that P/T induce changes resembling EMT and FMT in ectopic ESCs derived from retrograde menstruation, and that these are associated with fibrotic changes in the lesions. Pharmacological means that block P/T-induced activin A and CTGF signaling may be strategies to inhibit fibrosis in endometriotic lesions.

scholarly journals Role of B-Cell Translocation Gene 1 in the Pathogenesis of Endometriosis

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (13) ◽  
pp. 3372
Author(s):  
Jeong Sook Kim ◽  
Young Sik Choi ◽  
Ji Hyun Park ◽  
Jisun Yun ◽  
Soohyun Kim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
B Cell ◽  
Cellular Proliferation ◽  
Suppressor Gene ◽  
Cellular Migration ◽  
Matrix Metalloproteinase 2 ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Endometrial Stromal Cells ◽  
Eutopic Endometrium ◽  
Ectopic Endometrium

Estrogen affects endometrial cellular proliferation by regulating the expression of the c-myc gene. B-cell translocation gene 1 (BTG1), a translocation partner of the c-myc, is a tumor suppressor gene that promotes apoptosis and negatively regulates cellular proliferation and cell-to-cell adhesion. The aim of this study was to determine the role of BTG1 in the pathogenesis of endometriosis. BTG1 mRNA and protein expression was evaluated in eutopic and ectopic endometrium of 30 patients with endometriosis (endometriosis group), and in eutopic endometrium of 22 patients without endometriosis (control group). The effect of BTG1 downregulation on cellular migration, proliferation, and apoptosis was evaluated using transfection of primarily cultured human endometrial stromal cells (HESCs) with BTG1 siRNA. BTG1 mRNA expression level of eutopic and ectopic endometrium of endometriosis group were significantly lower than that of the eutopic endometrium of the control group. Migration and wound healing assays revealed that BTG1 downregulation resulted in a significant increase in migration potential of HESCs, characterized by increased expression of matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP2) and MMP9. Downregulation of BTG1 in HESCs significantly reduced Caspase 3 expression, indicating a decrease in apoptotic potential. In conclusion, our data suggest that downregulation of BTG1 plays an important role in the pathogenesis of endometriosis.

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