Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kanazawa University, Graduate School of Medical Science, Japan.
Cancer Lett. 2011 Sep 28;308(2):123-33. doi: 10.1016/j.canlet.2011.05.015. Epub 2011 Jun 17.
The human endometrium undergoes cyclical process of regeneration, growing from less than 1mm in thickness just after menstruation to 7-8 mm in only 2 weeks, which is accompanied by functional differentiation, followed by shedding of the functional layer. Since endometrium can fully regenerate even after complete physical shedding, there may be a cell population residing in the basal layer that can continue to provide daughter cells with high proliferative potential. Such a cell population is assumed to have stem cell characteristics. This review article aims to introduce evidence of the presence of stem cells not only in normal endometrium but also in endometrial cancer and discusses their roles in physiological regeneration and in carcinogenesis of the endometrium. Accumulating evidence revealed that there are rare individual cells that display adult stem cell properties of self-renewal and differentiation in both epithelium and stroma of the human endometrium, probably responsible for in its immense regenerative capacity. Epithelial stem cells might be located in the basal layer of endometrium. Prospectively isolated CD133(+) cells and/or side population (SP) cells in endometrial cancer were capable of initiating tumor formation and of recapitulating the phenotype of the original tumor, and therefore are candidate for endometrial cancer stem cells. These studies help us to understand the mechanisms of endometrial regeneration as well as endometrial carcinogenesis and will hopefully help in establishing novel molecular-based cancer therapies targeting stem cells.
人类子宫内膜经历周期性的再生过程，在月经结束后厚度不到 1 毫米，仅在 2 周内生长到 7-8 毫米，同时伴随着功能分化，随后功能层脱落。由于子宫内膜即使在完全物理性脱落后也能完全再生，因此可能存在一个位于基底层的细胞群，能够继续为具有高增殖潜能的子细胞提供支持。这种细胞群被认为具有干细胞特征。这篇综述文章旨在介绍不仅在正常子宫内膜中，而且在子宫内膜癌中存在干细胞的证据，并讨论它们在生理再生和子宫内膜癌发生中的作用。越来越多的证据表明，在人类子宫内膜的上皮和基质中存在少数具有自我更新和分化能力的个体细胞，可能是其巨大再生能力的原因。上皮干细胞可能位于子宫内膜的基底层。在子宫内膜癌中，预期分离的 CD133(+)细胞和/或侧群（SP）细胞能够启动肿瘤形成，并重现原始肿瘤的表型，因此是子宫内膜癌干细胞的候选者。这些研究有助于我们理解子宫内膜再生和子宫内膜癌发生的机制，并有望帮助建立针对干细胞的新型基于分子的癌症治疗方法。
