Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell transplantation in a rat model of thin endometrium based on HOXA10 regulatory network / 中国组织工程研究

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Thin endometrial diseases are a challenge in clinical treatment at present. Scholars have found that bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) transplantation has its unique curative effect and advantages, but few studies have been conducted on pathway or gene control. OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of BMSCs transplantation in rats with thin endometrium based on the HOXA10 regulatory network. METHODS: Twenty-one adult female Sprague-Dawley rats of SPF grade (provided by the Animal Experimental Center, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine in China) were randomly divided into three groups (n=7/group) control group, model group, and BMSCs group. In the latter two groups, a thin endometrium model was prepared in each rat by filling the uterine cavity with 95％ ethanol. In the control group, normal saline was injected to fill the uterine cavity of rats. After extraction of ethanol or normal saline, the rats in the BMSCs group were injected intrauterinely with 1 mL of BMSCs suspension (1×1010 cells/L) , and those in the control and model groups were given the same volume of normal saline. After two estrous cycles, the uterus of each rat was removed. Hematoxylin-eosin staining was used to measure the thickness of the endometrium. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of vimentin, keratin, vascular endothelial growth factor, leukemia inhibitory factor and integrin αvβ3. qRT-PCR was used to detect the relative transcription of HOXA10 and miR-196 b. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) Compared with the control group, the endometrial thickness of the rats were significantly thinner in the model and BMSCs groups (P < 0.05) , while the endometrial thickness in the BMSCs group was thicker than that in the model group (P < 0.05). (2) The mean absorbance values of endometrial vimentin, keratin, vascular endothelial growth factor, leukemia inhibitory factor and integrin αvβ3 were highest in the control group, higher in the BMSCs group and lowest in the model group, and there were significant differences between groups (P < 0.05). (3) The relative transcript level of HOXA10 gene in the model and BMSCs group was significantly lower than that in the control group, while the relative transcript level of HOXA10 gene in the BMSCs group was significantly higher than that in the model group (P < 0.05). The relative transcript level of miR-196 b in the model and BMSCs groups was significantly higher than that in the control group (P < 0.05) , while the relative transcript level of miR-196 b in the BMSCs group was lower than that in the model group (P < 0.05). (4) HOXA10 was negatively correlated with miR-196 b gene, HOXA10 was positively correlated with the protein expression to different extents, and miR-196 b gene was negatively correlated with the protein expression to different extents. These findings suggest that BMSCs transplantation can improve the endometrial thickness and relevant protein levels of thin endometrium rats to some extent, which may be attributed to the negative regulation of HOXA10 gene by miR-196 b, and HOXA10 gene further promotes the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor, leukemia inhibitory factor and integrin αvβ3 proteins.