Molecular Human Reproduction, Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 85-90, 2004
© European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology 2004
Gene expression pattern and immunoreactive protein localization of LGR7 receptor in human endometrium throughout the menstrual cycle
1Foundation of the Instituto Valenciano de Infertilidad, and 2Department of Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Valencia University School of Medicine, Valencia, Spain, 3Instituto de Ciencias en Reproducción Humana, León, Guanajuato, México and 4NV Organon, Departments of Target Discovery and Pharmacology, Oss, The Netherlands
5 To whom correspondence should be addressed at: Plaza de la Policía Local 3, 46015 Valencia, Spain. e-mail: csimon{at}interbook.net
Relaxin (RLX) is a pregnancy-associated polypeptide hormone. In non-pregnant women, the peak of circulating relaxin coincides with the window of endometrial receptivity and both in vivo and in vitro experiments showed that it plays a role in the decidualization process. Recently, two receptors, LGR7 and LGR8, have been identified as high affinity receptors for relaxin. Here we describe LGR7 mRNA and protein expression in human endometrium using semi-quantitative and quantitative fluorescent PCR (Q-PCR) and immunohistochemical analyses. Three different experimental designs were used. First, endometrial biopsies from five different phases of the menstrual cycle were analysed. Secondly, we assessed the early luteal phase in more detail. Finally we analysed the expression at LH+2 (2 days after the natural LH surge, pre-receptive endometrium) versus LH+7 (receptive endometrium) within the same menstrual cycle from the same patient to avoid inter-cycle or inter-person variations in gene expression. Our results indicate that there is no consistent regulation of LGR7 mRNA expression, neither during the menstrual cycle nor during the early–mid-luteal phase. In general, we observed a large degree of variation in LGR7 mRNA expression levels between patients. LGR7 immunoreactive protein was identified in all stages of the menstrual cycle. LGR7 protein was localized in both the epithelial and the stromal compartments, except for the mid-luteal phase when the expression was restricted to the endometrial epithelium. We conclude that no consistent regulation of LGR7 mRNA expression can be detected in human endometrium during the menstrual cycle.
Key words: Key words: endometrium/LGR7 receptor/relaxin
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