title: Evidence for the expression of alcohol dehydrogenase class I gene in rat uterus and its up-regulation by progesterone.
abstract: The endometrium is one of the target tissues of the ovarian steroid hormones, estrogen and progesterone. In order to elucidate the mechanism of gene regulation in the endometrium, suppressive subtraction hybridization was performed to isolate the candidate genes controlled by progesterone in rat uterus. Alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) class I gene was one of the candidate genes. Here we investigated the expression and regulation of ADH class I gene in rat uterus. The mRNA of ADH class I was detected in uterus by RT-PCR using specific primers. Using specific probe for ADH class I, in situ hybridization was performed to investigate localization in rat uterus. Positive signals were detected in the endometrial stromal cells of rat uterus by in situ hybridization and were not detected in endometrial epithelial cells and myometrium in rat uterus. Ovariectomized rats were treated with 17-beta estradiol and progesterone and the uteri of these rats were used for Northern blot analysis and assay of the ADH activity. Northern blot analysis revealed that the expression of ADH class I mRNA in rat uteri was up-regulated approximately two-fold after progesterone treatment, but not estrogen. Likewise, ADH activity was approximately two-fold higher in progesterone-treated rat uteri compared with controls. This study demonstrated that ADH class I gene is progesterone-responsive in the uterus. This implies that progesterone might be involved with retinoic acid synthesis in the uterus, since ADH is the key enzyme for retinoic acid synthesis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomoko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ohno
authors.forename: Hisahiko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hiroi
authors.forename: Mikio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Momoeda
authors.forename: Yumi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hosokawa
authors.forename: Ryo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tsutsumi
authors.forename: Minako
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Koizumi
authors.forename: Fumiko
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Nakazawa
authors.forename: Tetsu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yano
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Tsutsumi
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Taketani
mesh_terms: D000426:Alcohol Dehydrogenase / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic / Q000187:drug effects; D010052:Ovariectomy; D011374:Progesterone / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D014018:Tissue Distribution; D015854:Up-Regulation / Q000187:drug effects*; D014599:Uterus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger; D011374:Progesterone; D000426:Alcohol Dehydrogenase