title: Distributional changes of purinergic receptor subtypes (P2X 1-7) in uterine epithelial cells during early pregnancy.
abstract: Expression of each of the purinergic receptor subtypes (P2X7) was studied by immunohistochemical localization in the apical, lateral and basal plasma membranes of rat uterine epithelial cells during early pregnancy to the time of implantation on Day 6. Labelling for each P2X subtype was seen in the apical, lateral and basal compartments on Days 1 and 3, except for P2X2 which was only observed in the basement membrane. The P2X5 signal was similar in temporal and spatial expression to the other subtypes, but with a greatly reduced intensity. At the time of implantation on Day 6, this pattern altered dramatically. Apical expression markedly increased for most subtypes while the lateral and basal signals were markedly reduced. The exceptions to this pattern were P2X2, which displayed both a strong basal and apical label, and P2X4 which became de-expressed in all areas. We propose that the changing spatial and temporal expression of the P2X receptors is a significant factor in the regulation of events during early pregnancy. They are expressed in the same location as remodelling. apoptosis, and protein activation events prior to implantation on Day 6. These observations suggest an up-regulation of calcium-mediated events, including cytoskeletal alterations, a decrease in luminal pH and transmembrane molecule activation.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Biomedical Research and Department of Anatomy and Histology, The University of Sydney, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: N M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Slater
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Barden
authors.forename: C R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Murphy
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016253:Microscopy, Immunoelectron / Q000379:methods; D011247:Pregnancy; D011270:Pregnancy, Animal; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D018048:Receptors, Purinergic P2 / Q000378:metabolism*; D058469:Receptors, Purinergic P2X; D058476:Receptors, Purinergic P2X2; D058477:Receptors, Purinergic P2X3; D058848:Receptors, Purinergic P2X4; D058485:Receptors, Purinergic P2X5; D058486:Receptors, Purinergic P2X7; D014599:Uterus / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000648:ultrastructure
chemical_list: C546401:P2RX2 protein, human; C546407:P2RX3 protein, human; C548226:P2RX4 protein, human; C546465:P2RX5 protein, human; C546468:P2RX7 protein, human; C546403:P2rx2 protein, rat; C546410:P2rx3 protein, rat; C548228:P2rx4 protein, rat; C546467:P2rx5 protein, rat; C546470:P2rx7 protein, rat; D018048:Receptors, Purinergic P2; D058469:Receptors, Purinergic P2X; D058476:Receptors, Purinergic P2X2; D058477:Receptors, Purinergic P2X3; D058848:Receptors, Purinergic P2X4; D058485:Receptors, Purinergic P2X5; D058486:Receptors, Purinergic P2X7; C110590:purinoceptor P2X6