Two-way communication between endometrial stromal cells and monocytes.

Immune system cells and cells of the endometrium have long been proposed to interact in both physiological and pathological processes. The current study was undertaken to examine communication between cultured monocytes and endometrial stromal cells and also to assess responses of endometrial stromal cells for treatment with estradiol (E) in the absence and presence of medroxyprogesterone acetate (P). A telomerase-immortalized human endometrial stromal cell (T-HESC) line and the U937 monocyte cell line were used.

Effect of phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase inhibition on ovotoxicity caused by 4-vinylcyclohexene diepoxide and 7, 12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene in neonatal rat ovaries.

4-vinylcyclohexene diepoxide (VCD) is an ovotoxicant that specifically destroys primordial and small primary follicles in the ovaries of mice and rats. In contrast, 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA) is ovotoxic to all ovarian follicle classes. This study investigated phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase signaling involvement in VCD- and DMBA-induced ovotoxicity.

Expression of type 1 and 2A protein phosphatase subunits in the rat corpus luteum across pregnancy.

This study was undertaken to test the hypothesis that the reduction in protein phosphatase activity that had been observed at mid-pregnancy in the rat corpus luteum (CL) was due to a decrease in expression of one of the catalytic subunits or an increase in one of the B regulatory subunits of the type 2A protein phosphatase (PP2A). Ovaries were collected from rats on days (d) 1, 3, 7, 14, 20, and 21 of pregnancy, and on day 21 after progesterone treatment on day 20 (n = 6). Real-time RT-PCR was used to analyze the expression of the alpha and beta isoforms of the catalytic subunit, the structural A subunit, and three B regulatory subunits of PP2A, as well as the catalytic subunit of PP1.

Effects of estrogens and selective estrogen receptor modulators on vascular reactivity in the perfused mesenteric vascular bed.

Estrogens and selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs), such as raloxifene (RAL) and tamoxifen (TAM), acutely relax arteries, but the long-term effects of estrogens and SERMs on vascular reactivity in the mesenteric vasculature have not been well defined. In this study, we used an isolated, perfused mesenteric vascular bed technique to investigate the effect of chronic treatment of estrogens and SERMs on vascular reactivity of the mesenteric bed. Ovariectomized female Sprague-Dawley rats were treated by gavage with vehicle (control, 2-hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin), ethinyl estradiol, estradiol benzoate, equilin (EQ), TAM, or RAL for 3 wk.

The effects of estrogen and testosterone on gene expression in the rat mesenteric arteries.

A dramatic difference exists in the timing of development of cardiovascular disease in men vs. women. The primary candidates underlying the cause of this gender difference are the sex steroids, estrogen and testosterone.