Department of Korean Medical Science, School of Korean Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Healthy Aging Korean Medical Research Center, Pusan National University, Yangsan, Gyeongnam, 50612, Republic of Korea.
Exp Mol Med. 2018 Dec 12;50(12):1-12. doi: 10.1038/s12276-018-0167-1.
Endometriosis is a disease characterized by implants of endometrial tissue outside the uterine cavity and is strongly associated with infertility. Focal adhesion of endometrial tissue to the peritoneum is an indication of incipient endometriosis. In this study, we examined the effect of various cytokines that are known to be involved in the pathology of endometriosis on endometrial cell adhesion. Among the investigated cytokines, transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) increased adhesion of endometrial cells to the mesothelium through induction of α2-6 sialylation. The expression levels of β-galactoside α2-6 sialyltransferase (ST6Gal) 1 and ST6Gal2 were increased through activation of TGF-βRI/SMAD2/3 signaling in endometrial cells. In addition, we discovered that terminal sialic acid glycan epitopes of endometrial cells engage with sialic acid-binding immunoglobulin-like lectin-9 expressed on mesothelial cell surfaces. Interestingly, in an in vivo mouse endometriosis model, inhibition of endogenous sialic acid binding by a NeuAcα2-6Galβ1-4GlcNAc injection diminished TGF-β1-induced formation of endometriosis lesions. Based on these results, we suggest that increased sialylation of endometrial cells by TGF-β1 promotes the attachment of endometrium to the peritoneum, encouraging endometriosis outbreaks.
子宫内膜异位症是一种以子宫内膜组织在子宫腔外植入为特征的疾病,与不孕密切相关。子宫内膜组织与腹膜的局灶性黏附是子宫内膜异位症的早期表现。在这项研究中,我们研究了已知参与子宫内膜异位症病理的各种细胞因子对子宫内膜细胞黏附的影响。在研究的细胞因子中,转化生长因子-β1(TGF-β1)通过诱导α2-6 唾液酸化增加了子宫内膜细胞对间皮的黏附。通过激活子宫内膜细胞中的 TGF-βRI/SMAD2/3 信号通路,β-半乳糖苷α2-6 唾液酸转移酶(ST6Gal)1 和 ST6Gal2 的表达水平增加。此外,我们发现子宫内膜细胞末端唾液酸化糖链表位与间皮细胞表面表达的唾液酸结合免疫球蛋白样凝集素-9 结合。有趣的是,在体内小鼠子宫内膜异位症模型中,通过 NeuAcα2-6Galβ1-4GlcNAc 注射抑制内源性唾液酸结合,可减少 TGF-β1 诱导的子宫内膜异位症病变的形成。基于这些结果,我们认为 TGF-β1 增加了子宫内膜细胞的唾液酸化,促进了子宫内膜与腹膜的黏附,从而促进了子宫内膜异位症的爆发。