Wen Xue, Xiong Yao, Liu Huimin, Geng Ting, Jin Ling, Zhang Ming, Ma Ling, Zhang Yuanzhen
Reproductive Medicine Center, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, People's Republic of China.
Hubei Clinical Research Center for Prenatal Diagnosis and Birth Health, Wuhan, Hubei, People's Republic of China.
J Mol Endocrinol. 2021 Jan;66(1):45-57. doi: 10.1530/JME-20-0193.
The aberrant histone methylation patterns contribute to the pathogenesis of endometriosis (EM). Mixed lineage leukemia 1 (MLL1), a histone methyltransferase, is crucial for gene expression by catalyzing the trimethylation of histone 3 lysine 4 (H3K4me3) in gene promoter. This study aimed to explore whether MLL1 is involved in EM-related infertility. The expressions of MLL1 and H3K4me3 were analyzed in the eutopic endometria from EM women with infertility (n = 22) and the normal endometria from EM-free women (n = 22). Mouse EM model was established. The MLL1 and H3K4me3 expression patterns in mice endometria of early pregnancy were also investigated. Immortalized human endometrial stromal cells (iESCs) were cultured and underwent in vitro decidualization. The chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by deep sequencing (ChIP-seq) was performed to find the target gene of MLL1 during decidual process. Results showed that both MLL1 and H3K4me3 decreased in the eutopic endometrium from EM patients compared to that in the normal endometrium. During early pregnancy and the decidual process, MLL1 and H3K4me3 were significantly upregulated in stromal cells. ChIP-seq and ChIP-qPCR found that the cytochrome c oxidase subunit 4I 2 (COX4I2) was directly targeted by MLL1. The dominance of COX4I2-containing enzyme induced the expression of hypoxia-inducible factor-2α (HIF-2α), whose expression in the peri-implantation endometrium is essential for embryo implantation. Further results showed that MLL1 was directly regulated by progesterone (P4) - P4 receptors (PRs). Our study proved that MLL1 was involved in EM-related infertility, which may provide a novel approach to treat the nonreceptive endometrium in EM patients.
异常的组蛋白甲基化模式与子宫内膜异位症(EM)的发病机制有关。混合谱系白血病1(MLL1)是一种组蛋白甲基转移酶,通过催化基因启动子中组蛋白3赖氨酸4(H3K4me3)的三甲基化对基因表达至关重要。本研究旨在探讨MLL1是否参与与EM相关的不孕症。分析了患有不孕症的EM女性的在位内膜(n = 22)和无EM女性的正常内膜(n = 22)中MLL1和H3K4me3的表达。建立了小鼠EM模型。还研究了小鼠妊娠早期子宫内膜中MLL1和H3K4me3的表达模式。培养永生化人子宫内膜基质细胞(iESCs)并进行体外蜕膜化。进行染色质免疫沉淀测序(ChIP-seq)以寻找蜕膜化过程中MLL1的靶基因。结果显示,与正常内膜相比,EM患者在位内膜中MLL1和H3K4me3均降低。在妊娠早期和蜕膜化过程中,基质细胞中MLL1和H3K4me3显著上调。ChIP-seq和ChIP-qPCR发现细胞色素c氧化酶亚基4I 2(COX4I2)是MLL1的直接靶标。含COX4I2的酶的优势诱导了缺氧诱导因子-2α(HIF-2α)的表达,其在植入前子宫内膜中的表达对胚胎着床至关重要。进一步结果显示,MLL1直接受孕酮(P4)-孕酮受体(PRs)调控。我们的研究证明MLL1参与与EM相关的不孕症,这可能为治疗EM患者的非容受性子宫内膜提供一种新方法。
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