High expression of CD147 in endometriosis and its role in regulating apoptosis and migration in human endometrial cells (1093.3)

Endometriosis is a common gynecological disease, which contributes to 40% of infertile women in reproductive age. CD147 has been found highly expressed in ectopic endometrium and stimulated the MMPs in human uterine fibroblasts. However, it is poorly understood if and how CD147 affects endometrium epithelial cell migration during the progression of endometriosis. We demonstrate here that the expression of human CD147 was significantly higher in ovarian ectopic endometrium than that of normal endometrium by real‐time PCR. Interfering CD147 function decreased cell migration and cell viability in the normal human uterine epithelial cells (HES). Surprisingly, MMP‐2 expression and activity were not changed when HES treated with anti‐CD147 antibody. Further studies revealed that immunodepletion of CD147 induced apoptosis in HES cells, which led to Caspase‐3 and poly ADP‐ribose polymerase (PARP) activation. The present study demonstrated that CD147 regulates apoptosis and the cell migration in a MMP‐2 independent manner in human endometrial epithelial cells and that abnormally high expression of CD147 in the ectopic endometriosis lesions may contribute to the pathogenesis of endometriosis. Grant Funding Source : Supported by NSFC (31100841) and Shenzhen Projects of Science and Technology (JCYJ20120614085604107)