In Vivo Cell Fate Tracing Provides No Evidence for Mesenchymal to Epithelial Transition in Adult Fallopian Tube and Uterus.

The mesenchymal to epithelial transition (MET) is thought to be involved in the maintenance, repair, and carcinogenesis of the fallopian tube (oviduct) and uterine epithelium. However, conclusive evidence for the conversion of mesenchymal cells to epithelial cells in these organs is lacking. Using embryonal cell lineage tracing with reporters driven by mesenchymal cell marker genes of the female reproductive tract (AMHR2, CSPG4, and PDGFRβ), we show that these reporters are also expressed by some oviductal and uterine epithelial cells at birth.