Dysregulated Expression ofebaf, a Novel Molecular Defect in the Endometria of Patients with Infertility1

Siamak Tabibzadeh, S Tabibzadeh, James Mason, J M Mason, W Shea, Wendy Shea, Yiqiang Cai, Y Cai, Michael J. Murray, M J Murray, Bruce A. Lessey, B Lessey
The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 2000 · vol. 85(7) , pp. 2526–2536 · doi:10.1210/jcem.85.7.6674 · PMID:10902804 · W2073891289
article OA: bronze CC0 ⤵ 18 in-corpus citations
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Ebaf protein, normally reduced during the implantation window, was found to be dysregulated and more abundant in infertile women, particularly those with endometriosis, suggesting it may be a molecular marker for uterine receptivity defects.

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Abstract

We recently described the expression of ebaf, a novel member of the transforming growth factor-beta superfamily in human endometrium. ebaf messenger ribonucleic acid was expressed in late secretory and menstrual endometria. Here, we show that ebaf is secreted as 42-, 34-, 28-, and 14-kDa proteins into the conditioned medium of transfected cells, endometrial fluid, and serum. The amount of secreted proteins was markedly reduced during the implantation window in the endometria and sera of normal fertile subjects. The expression of ebaf was dysregulated in the endometria of a subset of women with infertility during the receptive phase of the menstrual cycle. Abundant secreted protein was present in the endometria of these women during the implantation window. During the critical period of endometrial receptivity, ebaf protein was more abundant in patients with endometriosis who did not conceive than in patients who became pregnant. These findings show that ebaf is a secreted product and is released into body fluids. Some types of infertility are associated with dysregulated expression of ebaf in human endometrium, suggesting that a molecular defect in uterine receptivity may be identified using such a marker protein.

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Condition tags

endometriosisinfertility

MeSH descriptors

Endometrium Gene Expression Regulation Infertility, Female Infertility, Female Transforming Growth Factor beta Adult Amino Acid Sequence Blotting, Northern Blotting, Western Endometrium Female Gene Expression Regulation Humans Immunohistochemistry Infertility, Female Left-Right Determination Factors Menstrual Cycle Menstrual Cycle Molecular Sequence Data Plasmids

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References (52)

Cited by (18)

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