Lin J, Lei Z M, Lojun S, Rao C V, Satyaswaroop P G, Day T G
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Kentucky 40292.
J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1994 Nov;79(5):1483-91. doi: 10.1210/jcem.79.5.7962347.
Normal human endometrium expresses LH/hCG receptor gene. In the present study, we investigated whether human endometrial carcinomas also express this receptor gene. Reverse transcription-nested polymerase chain reaction amplified LH/hCG receptor sequences from human endometrial carcinoma just as it did those from normal human endometrium and human ovary as a positive control tissue. Northern blotting demonstrated that endometrial carcinomas contain a greater abundance of multiple LH/hCG receptor transcripts, which increased with increasing tumor grade. Western immunoblotting revealed that all grades of endometrial carcinomas contain multiple immunoreactive receptor proteins in greater abundance than normal endometrium. In situ hybridization and immunocytochemistry demonstrated not only the presence, but also higher LH/hCG receptor messenger ribonucleic acid and receptor protein levels in glands of endometrial carcinoma compared to glands in normal endometrium. Ligand blotting demonstrated that the 35-kilodalton protein receptor could bind [125I]hCG and that this binding was inhibited by excess unlabeled hCG. The binding was higher in endometrial carcinoma than in normal endometrium. Atrophic and endocervical glands from endometrial carcinoma samples contained very few or no receptors. In summary, our results demonstrate that human endometrial carcinomas not only contain but also appear to overexpress LH/hCG receptors compared to normal endometrium. This novel finding introduces previously unsuspected possibilities concerning the role of LH and its receptors in human endometrial carcinomas.
正常人类子宫内膜表达促黄体生成素/人绒毛膜促性腺激素（LH/hCG）受体基因。在本研究中，我们调查了人类子宫内膜癌是否也表达该受体基因。逆转录-巢式聚合酶链反应从人类子宫内膜癌中扩增出LH/hCG受体序列，就如同从正常人类子宫内膜和作为阳性对照组织的人类卵巢中扩增出的一样。Northern印迹法表明，子宫内膜癌含有更丰富的多种LH/hCG受体转录本，且随着肿瘤分级的增加而增加。蛋白质免疫印迹法显示，所有分级的子宫内膜癌均含有多种免疫反应性受体蛋白，其丰度高于正常子宫内膜。原位杂交和免疫细胞化学表明，与正常子宫内膜的腺体相比，子宫内膜癌的腺体中不仅存在LH/hCG受体信使核糖核酸，而且其水平更高，受体蛋白水平也更高。配体印迹法表明，35千道尔顿的蛋白质受体可结合[125I]hCG，且这种结合可被过量的未标记hCG抑制。子宫内膜癌中的结合高于正常子宫内膜。子宫内膜癌样本中的萎缩性腺体和宫颈腺体含有极少或没有受体。总之，我们的结果表明，与正常子宫内膜相比，人类子宫内膜癌不仅含有LH/hCG受体，而且似乎还过度表达该受体。这一新发现为LH及其受体在人类子宫内膜癌中的作用带来了先前未曾预料到的可能性。
