OCT-4 expression in follicular and luteal phase endometrium: a pilot study

Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology

Methodology

Johannes C Huber¹  Andrea Kolbus¹  Marina Kenning¹  Eva-Katrin Bentz¹  Christian Schneeberger¹  Clemens B Tempfer²  Lukas A Hefler² 

[1] Department of Gynecological Endocrinology and Reproductive Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria;Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria;

关键词: Menstrual Cycle;    Endometriosis;    Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction;    Luteal Phase;    Follicular Phase;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1477-7827-8-38

 received in 2009-12-08, accepted in 2010-04-22,  发布年份 2010

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe stem cell marker Octamer-4 (OCT-4) is expressed in human endometrium. Menstrual cycle-dependency of OCT-4 expression has not been investigated to date.MethodsIn a prospective, single center cohort study of 98 women undergoing hysteroscopy during the follicular (n = 49) and the luteal (n = 40) phases of the menstrual cycle, we obtained endometrial samples. Specimens were investigated for OCT-4 expression on the mRNA and protein levels using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and immunohistochemistry. Expression of OCT-4 was correlated to menstrual cycle phase.ResultsOf 89 women sampled, 49 were in the follicular phase and 40 were in the luteal phase. OCT-4 mRNA was detected in all samples. Increased OCT-4 mRNA levels in the follicular and luteal phases was found in 35/49 (71%) and 27/40 (68%) of women, respectively (p = 0.9). Increased expression of OCT-4 protein was identified in 56/89 (63%) samples. Increased expression of OCT-4 protein in the follicular and luteal phases was found in 33/49 (67%) and 23/40 (58%) of women, respectively (p = 0.5).ConclusionsOn the mRNA and protein levels, OCT-4 is not differentially expressed during the menstrual cycle. Endometrial OCT-4 is not involved in or modulated by hormone-induced cyclical changes of the endometrium.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
© Bentz et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2010. This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.