Donmez Hanife Guler
Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Hacettepe University, Beytepe Campus, 06800Ankara, Turkey.
Asian Biomed (Res Rev News). 2020 Oct 31;14(5):187-194. doi: 10.1515/abm-2020-0027. eCollection 2020 Oct.
β-Catenin mediates cellular adhesion and the Wnt/β-catenin signaling mechanism, thereby controlling cell proliferation and differentiation. Studies of endometrial tissue suggest that there are differences in β-catenin expression during the course of regular menstrual cycles. However, differences in expression in squamous epithelial cells between the proliferative and secretory phases have hitherto remained unknown.
To localize β-catenin in squamous epithelial cells in cervicovaginal smears during the course of regular menstrual cycles.
In this observational study, smears were taken from women (n = 102) with various gynecological complaints. Squamous epithelial cells were stained using a Papanicolaou method to evaluate their cytology and any infection. An anti-β-catenin antibody was used to localize immunoreactivity in the cell membrane, cytoplasm, and/or nucleus.
Women with a regular menstrual cycle (n = 62) were divided into 2 groups: those in a proliferative phase (26/62, 42%) and those in a secretory phase (36/62, 58%). Cytoplasmic and nuclear β-catenin immunoreactivity was observed prominently in the proliferative phase (19/26, 73%), whereas low-level β-catenin immunoreactivity was seen in the secretory phase (9/36, 25%). Compared with the secretory phase, the mean H-scores for β-catenin immunoreactivity in the proliferative phase were significantly increased in the membrane ( = 0.039), the cytoplasm ( < 0.001), and the nucleus ( = 0.033). By contrast, β-catenin immunoreactivity was reduced from parabasal to superficial cells in both the proliferative and secretory phases.
Cytoplasmic and/or nuclear β-catenin immunoreactivity may indicate that the activity of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway is cycle dependent.
β-连环蛋白介导细胞黏附以及Wnt/β-连环蛋白信号传导机制，从而控制细胞增殖和分化。对子宫内膜组织的研究表明，在正常月经周期过程中β-连环蛋白的表达存在差异。然而，增殖期和分泌期鳞状上皮细胞中β-连环蛋白的表达差异迄今仍不清楚。
在正常月经周期过程中，对宫颈阴道涂片鳞状上皮细胞中的β-连环蛋白进行定位。
在这项观察性研究中，采集了有各种妇科症状的女性（n = 102）的涂片。鳞状上皮细胞采用巴氏染色法染色，以评估其细胞学特征和是否存在感染。使用抗β-连环蛋白抗体在细胞膜、细胞质和/或细胞核中定位免疫反应性。
月经周期正常的女性（n = 62）被分为两组：增殖期女性（26/62，42%）和分泌期女性（36/62，58%）。在增殖期，细胞质和细胞核β-连环蛋白免疫反应性显著（19/26，73%），而在分泌期β-连环蛋白免疫反应性较低（9/36，25%）。与分泌期相比，增殖期β-连环蛋白免疫反应性的平均H评分在细胞膜（P = 0.039）、细胞质（P < 0.001）和细胞核（P = 0.033）中显著增加。相比之下，在增殖期和分泌期，从基底旁细胞到表层细胞β-连环蛋白免疫反应性均降低。
细胞质和/或细胞核β-连环蛋白免疫反应性可能表明Wnt/β-连环蛋白信号通路的活性是周期依赖性的。
