Involvement of Transcription Factor 21 in the Pathogenesis of Fibrosis in Endometriosis.

This study aimed to determine whether transcription factor 21 (TCF21) is involved in the development of endometriosis as an upstream regulatory gene of periostin. Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue samples (normal endometrium of women without endometriosis, NE; eutopic endometrium of women with endometriosis, EE; ovarian endometriosis, OE; deep infiltrating endometriosis, DIE) and respective cells were analyzed. Basal, transiently stimulated, and knocked down periostin and TCF21 concentrations in stromal cells of women with or without endometriosis were examined. Periostin and TCF21 expressions were undetected in NE, weakly positive in EE, moderately positive in OE, and strongly positive in DIE. Th2 type cytokines (interleukin-4, interleukin-13, and transforming growth factor-β1) increased the mRNA expression of periostin and TCF21. These cytokines, periostin, and TCF21 co-localized in the stroma of OE and DIE. siTCF21 suppressed periostin expression. Transfection of TCF21 plasmid vector into stromal cells of women without endometriosis, which originally expressed neither periostin nor TCF21, resulted in TCF21 and periostin expression. TCF21 and periostin are involved in the regulation of fibrosis in endometriosis. TCF21 may be a promising therapeutic target and biomarker in endometriosis.
PMID: 31610174 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Source: The American Journal of Pathology - October 10, 2019 Category: Pathology Authors: Ganieva U, Nakamura T, Osuka S, Bayasula, Nakanishi N, Kasahara Y, Takasaki N, Muraoka A, Hayashi S, Nagai T, Murase T, Goto M, Iwase A, Kikkawa F Tags: Am J Pathol Source Type: research