Prifti S, Sillem M, Arslic T, Monga B, Rehberger S, Runnebaum B
Ruprechts-Karls-Universitaet, Heidelberg, Germany.
Eur J Clin Invest. 1998 Dec;28(12):1055-60. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2362.1998.00396.x.
Endometriosis is one of the most common benign gynaecological diseases, and attachment of retrogradely shed viable endometrial cells is considered to be important in its development. CD44 is a multifunctional adhesion molecule that undergoes alternative splicing, giving rise to different isoforms.
The expression of cell surface-associated CD44 std, v4, v5, v6 and v10 variants before and after cytokine treatment was investigated in endometrial cultures derived from 10 endometriosis patients and 22 women without the disease using immunocytochemistry. The immunoreactivity of soluble CD44 std, v5 and v6 variants was measured in culture medium using an enzyme immunoassay kit.
We report on the presence of soluble CD44 in endometrial culture supernatants. In particular, circulating CD44 standard form levels were significantly higher than levels of splice variants. We also found that both epithelial and stromal cells express surface-associated CD44 molecules in a distinct pattern and that this expression is not modulated by tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha or/and interleukin 1 (IL-1) alpha/beta. Finally, cell surface-associated as well as soluble CD44 expression was similar in the two groups.
Our results indicate that endometrial cells can serve as a source of circulating CD44, but a direct role in the pathogenesis of endometriosis is rather improbable.
子宫内膜异位症是最常见的良性妇科疾病之一，逆行脱落的存活子宫内膜细胞的附着被认为在其发病过程中起重要作用。CD44是一种多功能黏附分子，可发生可变剪接，产生不同的异构体。
采用免疫细胞化学方法，研究了细胞因子处理前后，10例子宫内膜异位症患者和22例非子宫内膜异位症患者的子宫内膜培养物中细胞表面相关的CD44标准型、v4、v5、v6和v10变体的表达。使用酶免疫分析试剂盒测量培养基中可溶性CD44标准型、v5和v6变体的免疫反应性。
我们报道了子宫内膜培养上清液中存在可溶性CD44。特别是，循环中的CD44标准型水平显著高于剪接变体水平。我们还发现，上皮细胞和基质细胞均以独特的模式表达表面相关的CD44分子，且这种表达不受肿瘤坏死因子（TNF）-α或/和白细胞介素1（IL-1）α/β的调节。最后，两组中细胞表面相关以及可溶性CD44的表达相似。
我们的结果表明，子宫内膜细胞可作为循环CD44的来源，但在子宫内膜异位症发病机制中起直接作用的可能性较小。
