CAPN 7 promotes the migration and invasion of human endometrial stromal cell by regulating matrix metalloproteinase 2 activity

Hongyu Liu, Yue Jiang, Xiaoyan Jin, Lihua Zhu, Xiaoyue Shen, Qun Zhang, Bin Wang, Junxia Wang, Yali Hu, Guijun Yan, Haixiang Sun
Reproductive biology and endocrinology : RB&E · 2013 · vol. 11(1) , pp. 64 · doi:10.1186/1477-7827-11-64 · PMID:23855590 · W2128962534
article OA: gold CC0 ⤵ 16 in-corpus citations
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-08 ⓘ

This study found that CAPN 7 is upregulated in endometriosis and promotes endometrial stromal cell migration and invasion by increasing MMP-2 activity.

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⚙ AI-generated deep summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-09 ⓘ

This study examined CAPN 7 expression in eutopic endometrium and endometrial stromal cells from women with endometriosis versus normal fertile controls, and tested how CAPN 7 affects human endometrial stromal cell (hESC) migration and invasion. Using western blotting and qRT-PCR, plus scratch-wound-healing and Matrigel invasion chamber assays, the authors found CAPN 7 was markedly upregulated in endometriosis and that CAPN 7 overexpression increased hESC migration/invasion while CAPN 7 knockdown reversed these effects. Mechanistically, CAPN 7 increased MMP-2 expression and activity by raising the MMP-2 to TIMP-2 activity ratio, and an MMP-2 inhibitor (OA-Hy) reduced CAPN 7-driven migration and invasion by about half. A limitation noted implicitly by the experimental design is the small endometriosis sample size (n=7 patients for stromal cells), and the observed pathway relies on in vitro assays of isolated cells; this paper is centrally about endometriosis — specifically, it links CAPN 7 upregulation in endometrial stromal cells to increased migration/invasion via MMP-2 activity regulation in endometriosis.

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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP-2) has been reported to be an important regulator of cell migration and invasion through degradation of the extracellular matrix (ECM) in many diseases, such as cancer and endometriosis. Here, we found calcium-activated neutral protease 7 (CAPN 7) expression was markedly upregulated in the eutopic endometrium and endometrial stromal cells of women diagnosed with endometriosis. Our studies were carried out to detect the effects of CAPN 7 on human endometrial stromal cell (hESC) migration and invasion. METHODS: Western blotting and quantitative real-time PCR were used to detect the expression of CAPN 7 in endometriosis patients and normal fertile women. Scratch-wound-healing and invasion chamber assay were used to investigate the role of CAPN 7 in hESC migration and invasion. Western blotting, quantitative real-time PCR and zymography were carried out to detect the effect of CAPN 7 on the expressions and activity of MMP-2. RESULTS: CAPN 7 was markedly up-regulated in endometriosis, thereby promoting the migration and invasion of hESC. CAPN 7 overexpression led to increased expression of MMP-2 and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases 2 (TIMP-2); CAPN 7 knockdown reversed these changes. CAPN 7 increased MMP-2 activity by increasing the ratio of MMP-2 to TIMP-2. We also found that OA-Hy (an MMP-2 inhibitor) decreased the effects of CAPN 7 overexpression on hESC migration and invasion by approximately 50% and 55%, respectively. Additionally, a coimmunoprecipitation assay demonstrated that CAPN 7 interacted with activator protein 2α (AP-2α): an important transcription factor of MMP-2. CONCLUSIONS: CAPN 7 promotes hESC migration and invasion by increasing the activity of MMP-2 via an increased ratio of MMP-2 to TIMP-2.

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Condition tags

mesh:D004715endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Calpain Cell Movement Matrix Metalloproteinase 2 Stromal Cells Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase-2 Adult Blotting, Western Calpain Calpain Cells, Cultured Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometrium Endometrium Endometrium Female Gene Expression Humans

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