Search Results

Endometriosis (EMS) is associated with an abnormal immune response to endometrial cells, which can facilitate the implantation and proliferation of ectopic endometrial tissues. It has been reported that human endometrial stromal cells (ESCs) express interleukin (IL)15. The aim of our study was to elucidate whether or not IL15 regulates the cross talk between ESCs and natural killer (NK) cells in the endometriotic milieu and, if so, how this regulation occurs. The ESC behaviors in vitro were verified by Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8), Annexin/PI, and Matrigel invasion assays, respectively. To imitate the local immune microenvironment, the co-culture system between ESCs and NK cells was constructed. The effect of IL15 on NK cells in the co-culture unit was investigated by flow cytometry (FCM). In this study, we found that ectopic endometrium from patients with EMS highly expressed IL15. Rapamycin, an autophagy inducer, decreased the level of IL15 receptors (i.e. IL15Rα and IL2Rβ). IL15 inhibits apoptosis and promotes the invasiveness, viability, and proliferation of ESCs. Meanwhile, a co-culture with ESCs led to a decrease in CD16 on NK cells. In the co-culture system, IL15 treatment downregulated the levels of Granzyme B and IFN-γ in CD16⁺NK cells, NKG2D in CD56^dimCD16^-NK cells, and NKP44 in CD56^brightCD16^-NK cells. On the one hand, these results indicated that IL15 derived from ESCs directly stimulates the growth and invasion of ESCs. On the other hand, IL15 may help the immune escape of ESCs by suppressing the cytotoxic activity of NK cells in the ectopic milieu, thereby facilitating the progression of EMS.

Immune cells and cytokines have important roles in the pathogenesis of endometriosis. However, the production and role of cytokines of T helper type 1 (Th1) and Th2 cells in the progress of endometriosis have remained to be fully elucidated. The present study reported that the interferon (IFN)-γ levels and the percentage of IFN-γ⁺CD4⁺ cells were significantly increased in the peritoneal fluid (PF) at the early stage and maintained at a higher level at the advanced stage of endometriosis; furthermore, interleukin (IL)-10 and IL-10⁺CD4⁺ cells were elevated in the advanced stage of endometriosis. In addition, IL-2 levels in the PF at the advanced stage of endometriosis were elevated and negatively associated with IFN-γ expression. In a co-culture system of ectopic endometrial stromal cells (ESCs) and macrophages, elevated IL-2 was observed, and treatment with cytokines IL-2 and transforming growth factor-β led to upregulation of the ratio of IL-2⁺ macrophages. IL-27-overexpressing ESCs and macrophages were able to induce a higher ratio of IL-10⁺CD4⁺ T cells. Blocking of IL-2 with anti-IL-2 neutralizing antibody led to upregulation of the ratio of IFN-γ⁺CD4⁺ T cells in the co-culture system in vitro. Recombinant human IL-10 and IFN-γ promoted the viability, invasiveness and transcription levels of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)2, MMP9, and prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2 of ESCs, particularly combined treatment with IL-10 and IFN-γ. These results suggest that IL-2 and IL-27 synergistically promote the growth and invasion of ESCs by modulating the balance of IFN-γ and IL-10 and contribute to the progress of endometriosis.

Macrophages play an important role in the origin and development of endometriosis. Estrogen promoted the growth of decidual stromal cells (DSCs) by downregulating the level of interleukin (IL)-24. The aim of this study was to clarify the role and mechanism of IL-24 and its receptors in the regulation of biological functions of endometrial stromal cells (ESCs) during endometriosis. The level of IL-24 and its receptors in endometrium was measured by immunohistochemistry. In vitro analysis was used to measure the level of IL-24 and receptors and the biological behaviors of ESCs. Here, we found that the expression of IL-24 and its receptors (IL-20R1 and IL-20R2) in control endometrium was significantly higher than that in eutopic and ectopic endometrium of women with endometriosis. Recombinant human IL-24 (rhIL-24) significantly inhibited the viability of ESCs in a dosage-dependent manner. Conversely, blocking IL-24 with anti-IL-24 neutralizing antibody promoted ESCs viability. In addition, rhIL-24 could downregulate the invasiveness of ESCs in vitro. After co-culture, macrophages markedly reduced the expression of IL-24 and IL-20R1 in ESCs, but not IL-22R1. Moreover, macrophages significantly restricted the inhibitory effect of IL-24 on the viability, invasion, the proliferation relative gene Ki-67, proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and cyclooxygenase2 (COX-2), and the stimulatory effect on the tumor metastasis suppressor gene CD82 in ESCs. These results indicate that the abnormally low level of IL-24 in ESCs possibly induced by macrophages may lead to the enhancement of ESCs’ proliferation and invasiveness and contribute to the development of endometriosis.

Nuclear transfer (NT) is a technique used to investigate the development and reprogramming potential of a single cell. DNA methyltransferase-3-like, which has been characterized as a repressive transcriptional regulator, is expressed in naturally fertilized egg and morula/blastocyst at pre-implantation stages. In this study, we demonstrate that the use of Dnmt3l-knockout (Dnmt3l-KO) donor cells in combination with Trichostatin A treatment improved the developmental efficiency and quality of the cloned embryos. Compared with the WT group, Dnmt3l-KO donor cell-derived cloned embryos exhibited increased cell numbers as well as restricted OCT4 expression in the inner cell mass (ICM) and silencing of transposable elements at the blastocyst stage. In addition, our results indicate that zygotic Dnmt3l is dispensable for cloned embryo development at pre-implantation stages. In Dnmt3l-KO mouse embryonic fibroblasts, we observed reduced nuclear localization of HDAC1, increased levels of the active histone mark H3K27ac and decreased accumulation of the repressive histone marks H3K27me3 and H3K9me3, suggesting that Dnmt3l-KO donor cells may offer a more permissive epigenetic state that is beneficial for NT reprogramming.