RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the present study was to clarify the expression of ARID1A in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and its effect on ovarian granulosa cells (GCs). METHODS: Serum samples were collected from PCOS patients to detect the expression of ARID1A by qRT-PCR. Then, mouse and human ovarian GCs were isolated and divided into several groups according to difference in transfection, and the following experiments were performed: MTT assay, flow cytometry, qRT-PCR, radioimmunoassay, and Western blotting. RESULTS: ARID1A was down-regulated in the serum of PCOS patients and ovarian GCs from PCOS mice. Human and mouse ovarian GCs in the ARID1A group and in cells that were exposed to LY294002, a PI3/Akt pathway inhibitor, showed decreased proliferation and increased apoptosis compared to those in the mock group, and a higher percentage of G0/G1 phase with a lower percentage of S phase or G2/M. Moreover, the expression of steroid metabolism-related genes (3ßHSD,Cyp11a1, StAR and Cyp19a1) in both human and mice PCOS GCs was down-regulatedresulting in lower estradiol (E2) and progesterone (P) 48h accumulation. In addition, protein expression of cleaved caspase-3, a main executor of apoptosis, was increased while expression of p-Akt/Akt and cyclin D1 was decreased in GCs from human and mice PCOS. However, the levels of the above indicators in the si-ARID1A group showed inverse changes. Furthermore, LY29400 treatment could reverse the effect of si-ARID1A on the ovarian GCs. CONCLUSION: ARID1A was down-regulated in GCs cells form PCOS women and from PCOS animal models, while ARID1A overexpression can suppress the PI3K/Akt pathway to inhibit proliferation and promote apoptosis in ovarian granulosa cells.
