title: Estradiol receptor binding to the epithelium of uterine lumen and glands: region- and time-related changes during preimplantation and periimplantation periods studied by autoradiography.
abstract: The presence and changes of estradiol nuclear binding and related functions in uterine luminal and glandular epithelium were studied before and after blastocyst implantation using receptor autoradiography with (3)H-estradiol-17beta in association with (3)H-thymidine incorporation and immunocytochemical binding of antibody to estrogen receptor ER-alpha. (3)H-estradiol nuclear binding is present but variable during days 1.5-7.5 of pregnancy. Sites of strong nuclear binding of (3)H-estradiol exhibit strong immunocytochemical staining with ER-alpha antibody. Qualitative and quantitative evaluation of autoradiograms reveal that there is a general increase of nuclear (3)H-estradiol binding during the first 3 days after fertilization in both luminal and glandular epithelium. The binding of estradiol is stronger in glandular epithelium from day 2.5 to day 7.5, paralleled by a rise in (3)H-thymidine incorporation on day 2.5. By comparison, in the epithelium of the uterine lumen (3)H-estradiol nuclear binding is low, but relatively high in epithelial cells at lateral branching of the lumen where the increase in (3)H-estradiol binding corresponds to an increased labeling index with (3)H-thymidine. A highly differentiated binding of (3)H-estradiol to luminal and glandular epithelium was demonstrated with region- and time-specific changes of related effects on cell proliferation, differentiation, and secretion, probably involving involution and remodeling. The strong (3)H-estradiol binding to glandular epithelium suggests that estradiol exerts pronounced effects on glandular activities in the periimplantation period.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Biology of Reproduction, Department of Histology and Embryology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, 05508-900, São Paulo, Brazil. temtzorn@usp.br
authors.forename: Telma M T
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Zorn
authors.forename: Mauricio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Soto-Suazo
authors.forename: Cleusa R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Pellegrini
authors.forename: José G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.forename: Walter E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Stumpf
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001345:Autoradiography; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D010064:Embryo Implantation; D047108:Embryonic Development; D004848:Epithelium / Q000378:metabolism; D004958:Estradiol / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007700:Kinetics; D051379:Mice; D011247:Pregnancy; D011959:Receptors, Estradiol / Q000032:analysis / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D013936:Thymidine / Q000378:metabolism; D014599:Uterus / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D011959:Receptors, Estradiol; D004958:Estradiol; D013936:Thymidine