Department of Bioscience and Biotechnolgy, Banasthali Vidyapith, Banasthali, 304022, Rajasthan, India.
Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine (inStem), NCBS Campus, Bengaluru, 560065, Karnataka, India.
J Gynecol Obstet Hum Reprod. 2020 Jun;49(6):101705. doi: 10.1016/j.jogoh.2020.101705. Epub 2020 Feb 1.
Gap junction form channels between the cells and facilitate the function of cellular cross talk. Connexins, the gap junction proteins play an essential role in female reproductive health and its expression anomalies are correlated with female reproductive disorders like polycystic ovarian syndrome, recurrent miscarriage, pre-term birth and endometriosis. Endometriosis is a chronic gynecologic disorder caused by ectopic endometrial lesions growing outside the uterine cavity. Embryonic implantation is adversely affected in case of endometriosis leading to infertility. Endometriosis also interferes with ovulatory functions, reduces fertilization and impaires blastocyst implantation. There lies a lacunae in understanding of the role of gap junctions protein connexins in endometriosis. Therefore, this study discusses the role of connexins in improving female fertility by taming the processes of oogenesis, germ line development, uterine receptivity, placental growth, implantation, decidualization and concludes by focusing the role of connexins in endometriosis.
缝隙连接在细胞之间形成通道，促进细胞间通讯的功能。连接蛋白作为缝隙连接蛋白，在女性生殖健康中起着至关重要的作用，其表达异常与女性生殖障碍有关，如多囊卵巢综合征、复发性流产、早产和子宫内膜异位症。子宫内膜异位症是一种慢性妇科疾病，由子宫腔外异位的子宫内膜病变引起。如果存在子宫内膜异位症，胚胎着床会受到不利影响，导致不孕。子宫内膜异位症还会干扰排卵功能，降低受精率，损害囊胚着床。目前对缝隙连接蛋白连接蛋白在子宫内膜异位症中的作用了解甚少。因此，本研究通过调控卵子发生、生殖细胞发育、子宫容受性、胎盘生长、着床、蜕膜化等过程，探讨了连接蛋白在改善女性生育能力中的作用，并着重探讨了连接蛋白在子宫内膜异位症中的作用。
