Research Resource: Gene Expression Profile for Ectopic Versus Eutopic Endometrium Provides New Insights into Endometriosis Oncogenic Potential

Borghese B, Bruno Borghese, Françoise Mondon, F Mondon, Mondon F, Noël JC, Jean-Christophe Noël, Jean‐Christophe Noël, Fayt I, Isabelle Fayt, Mignot TM, Thérèse-Marie Mignot, Daniel Vaiman, Chapron C, Charles Chapron
Molecular Endocrinology · 2008 · vol. 22(11) , pp. 2557–2562 · doi:10.1210/me.2008-0322 · PMID:18818281 · W2010366590
article OA: bronze CC0 ⤵ 120 in-corpus citations
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This study profiled gene expression differences between eutopic and ectopic endometrium, identifying over 8000 differentially expressed transcripts that suggest altered cell cycle control and HOX gene modulation, potentially explaining endometriosis's low oncogenic potential.

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Abstract

Endometriosis is a common gynecological disorder characterized by pain and infertility, where the lesions disseminate everywhere in the body with a preference for the pelvis. In that, it could be regarded as a benign metastatic disease, because its issue is not fatal. However, the molecular bases of this intriguing clinical condition are not well known. The objective of this study is to characterize the transcriptome differences between eutopic vs. ectopic endometrium with a special interest in pathways involved in cancerogenesis. We performed two hybridizations in technical replicate on highly specific long oligonucleotides microarrays (NimbleGen), with cDNA prepared from six-patients pools, where the same patient provided both eutopic and ectopic endometrium (endometriomas). To confirm the expression microarrays data, quantitative RT-PCR validation was performed on 12 individuals for 20 genes. Over 8000 transcripts were significantly modified (more than twice) in the lesions corresponding to 5600 down- or up-regulated genes. These were clustered through DAVID Bioinformatics Resources into 55 functional groups. The data are presented in a detailed and visual way on 24 Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways implemented with induction ratios for each differentially expressed gene. An outstanding control of the cell cycle and a very specific modulation of the HOX genes were observed and provide some new evidence on why endometriosis only very rarely degenerates into cancer. The study constitutes a noteworthy update of gene profiling in endometriosis, by delivering the most complete and reliable list of dysregulated genes to date.

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Condition tags

endometriosisinfertility

MeSH descriptors

Endometrial Neoplasms Endometrial Neoplasms Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometrium Cell Cycle Cell Cycle Choristoma Endometrial Neoplasms Endometrial Neoplasms Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometrium Endometrium Female Gene Expression Profiling Humans Multigene Family Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis

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