Paria B C, Zhao X, Das S K, Dey S K, Yoshinaga K
Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, Ralph L. Smith Research Center, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas, 66160-7338, USA.
Dev Biol. 1999 Apr 15;208(2):488-501. doi: 10.1006/dbio.1999.9206.
Two-way interactions between the blastocyst trophectoderm and the uterine luminal epithelium are essential for implantation. The key events of this process are cell-cell contact of trophectoderm cells with uterine luminal epithelial cells, controlled invasion of trophoblast cells through the luminal epithelium and the basement membrane, transformation of uterine stromal cells surrounding the blastocyst into decidual cells, and protection of the "semiallogenic" embryo from the mother's immunological responses. Because cell-cell contact between the trophectoderm epithelium and the luminal epithelium is essential for implantation, we investigated the expression of zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1) and E-cadherin, two molecules associated with epithelial cell junctions, in the mouse uterus during the periimplantation period. Preimplantation uterine epithelial cells express both ZO-1 and E-cadherin. With the initiation and progression of implantation, ZO-1 and E-cadherin are expressed in stromal cells of the primary decidual zone (PDZ). As trophoblast invasion progresses, these two molecules are expressed in stroma in advance of the invading trophoblast cells. These results suggest that expression of these adherence and tight junctions molecules in the PDZ serves to function as a permeability barrier to regulate access of immunologically competent maternal cells and/or molecules to the embryo and provide homotypic guidance of trophoblast cells in the endometrium.
囊胚滋养外胚层与子宫腔上皮之间的双向相互作用对于着床至关重要。这一过程的关键事件包括滋养外胚层细胞与子宫腔上皮细胞的细胞间接触、滋养层细胞通过腔上皮和基底膜的可控侵袭、围绕囊胚的子宫基质细胞转化为蜕膜细胞，以及保护“半同种异体”胚胎免受母体免疫反应的影响。由于滋养外胚层上皮与腔上皮之间的细胞间接触对于着床至关重要，我们研究了紧密连接蛋白1（ZO-1）和E-钙黏蛋白这两种与上皮细胞连接相关的分子在小鼠子宫着床期的表达情况。着床前子宫上皮细胞同时表达ZO-1和E-钙黏蛋白。随着着床的启动和进展，ZO-1和E-钙黏蛋白在初级蜕膜区（PDZ）的基质细胞中表达。随着滋养层侵袭的进展，这两种分子在侵袭的滋养层细胞之前的基质中表达。这些结果表明，PDZ中这些黏附连接和紧密连接分子的表达起到了渗透屏障的作用，以调节有免疫活性的母体细胞和/或分子进入胚胎，并为滋养层细胞在子宫内膜中提供同型导向。
