Alterations in progesterone receptor membrane component 2 (PGRMC2) in the endometrium of macaques afflicted with advanced endometriosis

Christopher S Keator, Kar Men Mah, Kuni Mah, Ov D Slayden
Molecular human reproduction · 2012 · vol. 18(6) , pp. 308–319 · doi:10.1093/molehr/gas006 · PMID:22307145 · PMC3358041 · W2144773840
article OA: bronze CC0 ⤵ 11 in-corpus citations
📄 Open PDF View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-08 ⓘ

This study found reduced transcript and altered protein levels of PGRMC2 in the secretory endometrium of macaques with endometriosis compared to healthy controls.

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

Abstract

The hormonally driven expression and cell-specific localization patterns of the progesterone receptor membrane components (PGRMC1 and PGRMC2) in the macaque endometrium during the menstrual cycle are unknown. Additionally, the expression and localization patterns of PGRMC1 and PGRMC2 in the secretory eutopic endometrium of primates afflicted with endometriosis are also unknown. Therefore, we used real-time PCR to quantify transcript expression levels of the PGRMCs in well-defined samples of endometrium collected from artificially cycled macaques during the menstrual cycle, and in the secretory phase endometrium of naturally cycling macaques afflicted with endometriosis. In situ hybridization and immunocytochemistry were used to localize PGRMC1 and PGRMC2 mRNA and protein, respectively. We compared the patterns of expression and localization of the PGRMCs with the expression and localization patterns of nuclear progesterone receptor (PGR). PGRMC1 and PGR were elevated during the proliferative phases of the cycle, and then declined to nearly undetectable levels during the late secretory phase of the cycle. Levels of PGRMC2 were lowest during the proliferative phases of the cycle and then increased markedly during the secretory phases. Strong staining for PGRMC2 was localized to the luminal and glandular epithelia during the secretory phases. When compared with artificially cycled disease-free animals, macaques with endometriosis exhibited no changes in the expression or localization patterns for PGR and PGRMC1 but exhibited strikingly reduced levels of PGRMC2 transcript and altered intracellular staining patterns for the PGRMC2 protein. Collectively, these results suggest that membrane-bound PGRMC2 may provide a pathway of action that could potentially mediate the non-genomic effects of progesterone on the glandular epithelia during the secretory phase of the cycle. Further, reduced levels of membrane-bound PGRMC2 may be associated with the progesterone insensitivity often observed in the endometrium of primates afflicted with endometriosis.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Endometriosis Endometrium Gene Expression Regulation Membrane Proteins Menstrual Cycle Receptors, Progesterone Animals Cell Nucleus Cell Nucleus Disease Models, Animal Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometrium Endometrium Endometrium Estradiol Estradiol Estradiol

Citation neighborhood

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 (41)

Cited by (11)

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-06-11T06:19:48.454388+00:00
openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-05-13T22:16:23.388809+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK