Macrophages promote the growth and invasion of endometrial stromal cells by downregulating IL-24 in endometriosis

Jun Shao, Bing Zhang, Jiajun Yu, Yu JJ, Jia-Jun Yu, Chun-Yan Wei, Chunyan Weı, Wei CY, Wen-Jie Zhou, Wen‐Jie Zhou, Zhou WJ, Kai‐Kai Chang, Chang KK, Kai-Kai Chang, Hui‐Li Yang, Yang HL, Hui-Li Yang, Li-Ping Jin, Jin LP, Liping Jin, Xiao‐Yong Zhu, Xiao-Yong Zhu, Zhu XY, Ming‐Qing Li, Ming-Qing Li
Reproduction (Cambridge, England) · 2016 · vol. 152(6) , pp. 673–682 · doi:10.1530/rep-16-0278 · PMID:27624484 · W2519030441
Lab / animal OA: bronze CC0 ⤵ 34 in-corpus citations
📄 Open PDF View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by gemini-2.5-flash-lite, 2026-06-08 ⓘ

Macrophages reduce IL-24 expression in endometrial stromal cells, promoting their proliferation and invasion, which contributes to endometriosis development.

One-sentence paraphrase of the abstract; not a substitute for reading it. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

Macrophages play an important role in the origin and development of endometriosis. Estrogen promoted the growth of decidual stromal cells (DSCs) by downregulating the level of interleukin (IL)-24. The aim of this study was to clarify the role and mechanism of IL-24 and its receptors in the regulation of biological functions of endometrial stromal cells (ESCs) during endometriosis. The level of IL-24 and its receptors in endometrium was measured by immunohistochemistry. In vitro analysis was used to measure the level of IL-24 and receptors and the biological behaviors of ESCs. Here, we found that the expression of IL-24 and its receptors (IL-20R1 and IL-20R2) in control endometrium was significantly higher than that in eutopic and ectopic endometrium of women with endometriosis. Recombinant human IL-24 (rhIL-24) significantly inhibited the viability of ESCs in a dosage-dependent manner. Conversely, blocking IL-24 with anti-IL-24 neutralizing antibody promoted ESCs viability. In addition, rhIL-24 could downregulate the invasiveness of ESCs in vitro After co-culture, macrophages markedly reduced the expression of IL-24 and IL-20R1 in ESCs, but not IL-22R1. Moreover, macrophages significantly restricted the inhibitory effect of IL-24 on the viability, invasion, the proliferation relative gene Ki-67, proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and cyclooxygenase2 (COX-2), and the stimulatory effect on the tumor metastasis suppressor gene CD82 in ESCs. These results indicate that the abnormally low level of IL-24 in ESCs possibly induced by macrophages may lead to the enhancement of ESCs' proliferation and invasiveness and contribute to the development of endometriosis.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Cell Movement Cell Movement Endometriosis Endometrium Interleukins Macrophages Stromal Cells Adult Adult Cell Proliferation Cell Proliferation Coculture Techniques Coculture Techniques Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometrium Endometrium Endometrium Female

Citation neighborhood (2-hop)

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. Outer rings show 2-hop neighbours — papers reached through the immediate citers/citees. [ collapse to 1-hop ]

References (46)

Cited by (34)

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-10-10T06:11:15.153948+00:00
openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-10-08T21:18:26.654515+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK