title: Interleukin 11 advances progesterone-induced decidualization of human endometrial stromal cells.
abstract: Differentiation of endometrial stromal cells into decidual cells is crucial for embryo implantation and placentation. Interleukin (IL)-11 signalling is essential for adequate decidualization in the mouse uterus. We examined the role of IL-11 during progesterone-induced decidualization of human endometrial stromal cells over a 10-12 day period, using prolactin (PRL) production as a decidual marker. These cells produced biologically active IL-11 and expressed IL-11, IL-11Ralpha and PRL mRNA during decidualization. Neutralization of endogenous IL-11 with an anti-human (hu)IL-11 antibody (AB) reduced production of PRL from day 8 and insulin-like growth factor binding protein (IGFBP)-1, another marker of decidualization, from day 10 of culture. Following AB washout, PRL and IGFBP-1 secretion increased. Addition of recombinant (r)huIL-11 (10 or 100 ng/ml) to endometrial stromal cells increased secretion of PRL from day 4 and IGFBP-1 from day 6 compared with progesterone alone. Morphological signs of differentiation accompanied biochemical differentiation in the progesterone-treated cells and were further induced by exogenous rhuIL-11. Our observations demonstrate that human endometrial stromal cells produce biologically active IL-11, which promotes progesterone-induced decidualization. These results suggest that IL-11 has both paracrine and autocrine actions on human endometrial stromal cells and plays an important role in preparing the human endometrium for implantation.
authors.affiliation: Prince Henry's Institute of Medical Research, P.O.Box 3168, Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia. evdokia@dimitriadis@med.monash.edu.au
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dimitriadis
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Robb
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Salamonsen
mesh_terms: D003656:Decidua / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D004717:Endometrium / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D017370:Interleukin-11 / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology; D011374:Progesterone / Q000378:metabolism*; D017154:Stromal Cells / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D017370:Interleukin-11; D011374:Progesterone