Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Tabibzadeh, S.
Right arrow Articles by May, L.T.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Tabibzadeh, S.
Right arrow Articles by May, L.T.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Molecular Human Reproduction Vol. 1, NUMBER 8 pp. 407-413, 1995
© European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology 1995

research-article

Progressive rise in the expression of interleukin-6 in human endometrium during menstrual cycle is initiated during the implantation window

S. Tabibzadeh1,4, Q.F. Kong1, A. Babaknia2 and L.T. May3

1Department of Pathology, University of South Florida Health Sciences Center and Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL, USA 2Women's Health Institute Costa Mesa, CA 3Dept of Microbiology and Immunology and the Department of Medicine New York College, Valhalla, NY, USA

To whom correspondence should be addressed at: 4To whom correspondence should be addressed

In order to be prepared for implantation, human endometrium undergoes a predictable series of proliferative and secretory changes. Cytokines play an important role in regulation of these changes. Therefore, in this study, we immunolocalized the cytokine, interleukin-6 (IL-6), its receptor and the signal transducer gp130 in human endometrium throughout the menstrual cycle. During the entire menstrual cycle, the IL-6 receptor and gp130 were found primarily in the endometrial glands and to a lesser extent in the stroma. The immunoreactivity of these proteins did not change in endometrial cells during the entire menstrual cycle with an exception of reduced immunoreactivity of gp130 in endometrial glands during menstrual phase. Immunostaining showed that immunoreactive IL-6 was weakly expressed in human endometrium during the proliferative phase. Strong immunoreactivity for IL-6 appeared in endometrium during the putative 'implantation window'. Expression was by far most pronounced both in the glandular and surface epithelial cells. The amount of immunoreactive IL-6 in the epithelium progressively increased during the secretory/menstrual phases. During the late secretory phase, only stromal cells in the upper functionalis exhibited immunoreactivity for IL-6. Western blot analysis corroborated the immunohistochemical data. Human endometrial IL-6 consisted of a protein with an apparent mobility of 26 kDa. The immunoreactive band of IL-6 was weak in the proliferative phase. The expression of this protein increased progressively during the secretory/menstrual phases. The findings show a cell-specific pattern of distribution for immunoreactive IL-6 in human endometrium. The menstrual cycle-dependent expression of IL-6 suggests that this cytokine may play a role in changes in endometrium that prepare this tissue for implantation and menstrual shedding.

cytokine/endometrium/implantation/interleukin/interleukin-6


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.