Immunohistochemical localization of inhibin and activin subunits, activin receptors and Smads in ovarian endometriosis

Mabuchi, Yasushi Mabuchi, Mareo Yamoto, Sawako Minami, Naohiko Umesaki
International journal of molecular medicine · 2009 · vol. 25(01) , pp. 17–23 · doi:10.3892/ijmm_00000308 · PMID:19956897 · W2029274299
article OA: bronze CC0 ⤵ 14 in-corpus citations
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-10 ⓘ

This study found that ovarian endometriosis and normal endometrium express activin A and components of its signaling pathway, but not inhibin alpha-subunit.

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⚙ AI-generated deep summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-10 ⓘ

This study used immunohistochemistry to map inhibin α- and βA-subunits, activin A, activin receptors (types IA, IB, IIA, IIB), and Smad2/Smad3/Smad4 in ovarian endometriosis tissues from 13 women, compared with normal endometrium from 5 premenopausal controls sampled during the proliferative phase. The authors found no immunostaining for the inhibin α-subunit in ovarian endometriosis or normal endometrium, while βA-subunit, activin A, the listed activin receptors, and the Smad proteins showed positive staining in both ovarian endometriosis and normal endometrium. A major caveat is that the work is descriptive and based on a small sample size, with no functional assays to determine whether these signals produce different biological effects. This paper is centrally about endometriosis — it localizes inhibin/activin and downstream Smad signaling components in ovarian endometriosis versus normal endometrium.

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Abstract

We previously reported that activin A, not inhibin, was localized to endometrial tissues, and that the endometrium might be a major source of activin A during the menstrual cycle, using an immunohistochemical method. However, there are few detailed reports concerning the expression of inhibin subunits, activin receptors and Smad proteins in the ectopic endometrial tissues of endometriosis. In this study, our purpose was to evaluate the immunohistochemical localization of inhibin alpha-, betaA-subunits, activin A, activin receptor, and Smad proteins in ovarian endometriosis. Tissue samples from ovarian endometriosis were obtained from 13 women. Normal endometrial tissues were obtained during the proliferative phase from 5 premenopausal women without endometriosis who were undergoing a hysterectomy for the treatment of uterine cervical intraepithelial neoplasia 3. We examined the immunohistochemical localization of inhibin/activin alpha-, betaA-subunit, activin A, activin receptors types IA, IB, IIA, IIB, Smad2, Smad3 and Smad4 using an avidin-biotin-peroxidase complex technique. No immunostaining for the alpha-subunit of inhibin was observed in ovarian endometriosis and the normal endometrium. Positive immunostaining for the betaA-subunit of inhibin, activin A, activin receptors types IA, IB, IIA, IIB, Smad2, Smad3 and Smad4 was observed in ovarian endometriosis and the normal endometrium. In conclusion, these results suggest that activin A, but not inhibins, is produced by ovarian endometriosis and the normal endometrium, and that the activin signal transduction system exists in both ovarian endometriosis and the normal endometrium.

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Condition tags

endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Activin Receptors Activins Endometriosis Inhibins Ovarian Neoplasms Smad Proteins Activin Receptors Activins Adult Endometriosis Endometrium Endometrium Endometrium Female Humans Immunohistochemistry Inhibins Middle Aged Ovarian Neoplasms Smad Proteins

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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. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

References (15)

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