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Increased expression of stemness genes REX-1, OCT-4, NANOG, and SOX-2 in women with ovarian endometriosis versus normal endometrium: A case-control study
Shariati, Fatameh; Favaedi, Raha; Ramazanali, Fariba; Ghoraeian, Pegah; Afsharian, Parvaneh; Aflatoonian, Behrouz; Aflatoonian, Reza & Shahhoseini, Maryam
Abstract
Background: Endometriosis is a common, chronic inflammatory disease which is defined as an overgrowth of endometrial tissue outside the uterine cavity. The etiology of this disease is complex and multifactorial but there is a strong evidence that supports the presence of endometrial stem cells and their possible involvement in endometriosis.
Objective: In this study, we analyzed the mRNA expression of REX-1 stemness gene and reconsidered three other stemness genes SOX-2, NANOG, OCT-4 in women with endometriosis compared to normal endometrium.
Materials and Methods: Ten ectopic and ten eutopic tissue samples along with 23 normal endometrium specimens were recruited in this study. The expression levels of OCT-4, NANOG, SOX-2, and REX-1 genes were evaluated by the quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction.
Results: The transcription levels of OCT-4, NANOG, and SOX-2 mRNA were significantly increased in ectopic lesions compared with eutopic and control group (p = 0.041, p = 0.035, p = 0.048), although the REX-1 mRNA increase was not significant between endometriosis and control groups. Also, there were differences in the expression level of these genes in normal endometrium during the menstrual cycles (p = 0.031, p = 0.047, p = 0.031).
Conclusion: Based on our data, we confirm the dynamic role of stemness genes in proliferation and growth of normal endometrium during the menstrual cycle and conclude that differential expression
Keywords
Endometriosis; Stemness genes
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