Effect of Steroid Hormones on the Expression of c-Fos, CREB, ATF, and HSP70 in Rat Uterus / 대한불임학회지

ABSTRACT

Steroid hormone is known to cause the dynamic changes of mammalian uterus during reproductive cycle. However there is little information about the effect of estrogen (E) and progesterone (P) on the expression of various transcription factors involved in gene expression. Thus the present study was designed to demonstrate E and/or P-induced expression of c-Fos, CREB, ATF and HSP70 in rat uterus. Rats, ovariectomized (OVX) for two weeks, were divided into 6 experimental groups, 1) OVX, 2) OVX+V, 3) OVX+E, 4) OVX+P, 5) OVX+E+V, 6) OVX+E+P, and western blotting assay for nuclear extract and immunohistochemical staining were carried out for each experimental group. Treatment of E (10microgram) showed to increase the expression of c-Fos, CREB, ATF, and HSP70, and maximal expression was occured at 3~6 hr after E administration. P (1mg) also increased, but much less than E, the expression of c-Fos, ATF, and HSP70. However, P did not reveal any effect on the expression CREB. P treatment 4 hr after E injection decreased c-Fos, CREB, and ATF expression, but did not show any change in the E-induced HSP70 expression. In immunohistochemical study c-Fos-, CREB-, and ATF-immunoreactivities were conficed to the cells of luminal epithelium of uterine endometrium. These results suggest that proliferation and differentiation of rat uterus during reproductive cycle may mediated via expression of transcription factors, such as c-Fos, CREB, ATF, and HSP70.