Expression and Significance of WNT4 in Ectopic and Eutopic Endometrium of Human Endometriosis

Liang Y, Yanming Liang, Li Y, Yan Li, Liu K, Kuiran Liu, Chen P, Peng Chen, Wang D, Danbo Wang
Reproductive sciences (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) · 2015 · vol. 23(3) , pp. 379–385 · doi:10.1177/1933719115602763 · PMID:26363035 · W2172621793
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06+body, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

WNT4 expression was reduced in ectopic and eutopic endometrium from endometriosis patients compared to controls, but not correlated with the menstrual cycle.

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The study investigated WNT4 gene/protein expression in ectopic endometrium and eutopic endometrium (EU) and assessed whether WNT4 expression varied with the menstrual cycle in women with endometriosis. Tissues were collected from 30 women with pathologically confirmed endometriosis and 30 controls without endometriosis, and WNT4 mRNA/protein were measured using quantitative real-time PCR, immunohistochemistry, and Western blot; the authors found that WNT4 expression was not significantly correlated with menstrual cycle phase and did not differ between proliferative versus secretory phases within each group. No significant differences in WNT4 mRNA or protein were detected between ectopic lesions and EU in the endometriosis group, but WNT4 in EU was significantly reduced versus normal endometrium in controls and WNT4 was downregulated in ectopic lesions. This paper is centrally about endometriosis — specifically, it characterizes WNT4 expression differences between ectopic and eutopic endometrium and relates those findings to menstrual-cycle independence and the “EU determinism” concept.

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Abstract

The objective was to investigate the expression of the WNT4 gene in ectopic endometrium and eutopic endometrium (EU) during endometriosis and the relationship of WNT4 expression with the menstrual cycle. Ectopic endometrium and EU tissues were collected from 30 women with pathologically confirmed endometriosis and 30 women without endometriosis. The WNT4 protein and messenger RNA (mRNA) expression levels were measured by fluorescence-based quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, immunohistochemistry, and Western blot methods. The expression of WNT4 was not significantly correlated with the menstrual cycle, and there were no significant differences when WNT4 expression in proliferative endometrium was compared with that in secretory endometrium within each group. There were no significant differences between the protein and mRNA expression of WNT4 in ectopic endometrium and in EU from participants with endometriosis. The WNT4 expression level in EU was significantly reduced compared with that in normal endometrium of the control group, even when analyzed by the menstrual cycle phase. WNT4 was also downregulated in ectopic lesions. This study provides further evidence supporting the theory of "EU determinism" in the pathogenesis of endometriosis.
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Abstract

The objective was to investigate the expression of the WNT4 gene in ectopic endometrium and eutopic endometrium (EU) during endometriosis and the relationship of WNT4 expression with the menstrual cycle. Ectopic endometrium and EU tissues were collected from 30 women with pathologically confirmed endometriosis and 30 women without endometriosis. The WNT4 protein and messenger RNA (mRNA) expression levels were measured by fluorescence-based quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, immunohistochemistry, and Western blot methods. The expression of WNT4 was not significantly correlated with the menstrual cycle, and there were no significant differences when WNT4 expression in proliferative endometrium was compared with that in secretory endometrium within each group. There were no significant differences between the protein and mRNA expression of WNT4 in ectopic endometrium and in EU from participants with endometriosis. The WNT4 expression level in EU was significantly reduced compared with that in normal endometrium of the control group, even when analyzed by the menstrual cycle phase. WNT4 was also downregulated in ectopic lesions. This study provides further evidence supporting the theory of “EU determinism” in the pathogenesis of endometriosis. Similar content being viewed by others

References

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endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Choristoma Ectopic Gene Expression Endometriosis Endometrium Wnt4 Protein Adult Choristoma Choristoma Cohort Studies Ectopic Gene Expression Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometrium Endometrium Female Humans Middle Aged Wnt4 Protein Wnt4 Protein

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