Murphy C R, Swift J G, Mukherjee T M, Rogers A W
J Cell Sci. 1982 Jun;55:1-12. doi: 10.1242/jcs.55.1.1.
In previous work we have shown that ovarian hormones, when injected into ovariectomized rats, alter the fine structure of the plasma membrane of endometrial epithelial cells. In this paper freeze-fractures have been used to study the apical plasma membrane of endometrial epithelial cells of rats during the period of blastocyst implantation of normal pregnancy. On day 1 of pregnancy there were 2354 +/- 114 intramembranous particles (IMPs) per micrometer2 of membrane. The particles were spherical and randomly distributed. On day 5 of pregnancy IMP density rose to 2899 +/- 289 per micrometer2 and some rod-shaped particles were also visible. By day 6 of pregnancy IMP density had risen to 4014 +/- 206 per micrometer2 and there were more rod-shaped IMPs than before. In addition, on day 6 IMPs were also present as rows of particles and some gap-junction-like arrays of particles were also seen. Our findings indicate that there are fine-structural alterations in the apical plasma membrane of endometrial epithelial cells, the site of first contact between maternal and embryonic cells, during the period of early pregnancy. The findings are discussed in the light of suggested mechanisms of blastocyst attachment to the uterine epithelium at implantation.
在之前的研究中我们已经表明，将卵巢激素注射到去卵巢大鼠体内时，会改变子宫内膜上皮细胞质膜的精细结构。在本文中，冷冻蚀刻技术被用于研究正常妊娠囊胚着床期间大鼠子宫内膜上皮细胞的顶端质膜。妊娠第1天，每平方微米膜上有2354±114个膜内颗粒（IMPs）。这些颗粒呈球形且随机分布。妊娠第5天，IMPs密度升至每平方微米2899±289个，同时也可见一些杆状颗粒。到妊娠第6天，IMPs密度已升至每平方微米4014±206个，且杆状IMPs比之前更多。此外，在第6天，IMPs还呈颗粒排状出现，并且还可见一些类似缝隙连接的颗粒阵列。我们的研究结果表明，在妊娠早期，作为母体和胚胎细胞首次接触部位的子宫内膜上皮细胞顶端质膜存在精细结构改变。结合囊胚在着床时附着于子宫上皮的推测机制对这些结果进行了讨论。
