title: Expression of oct-4 and c-kit antigens in endometriosis.
abstract: The objective of this study was to test the expression of the oct-4 and c-kit, both markers of stem cells, in the ectopic endometrial tissue of endometriotic lesions of women with severe endometriosis. Our findings show that ectopic epithelial cells express oct-4 and c-kit and this suggests that the ectopic endometrium in endometriosis has a stem cell origin and could explain the possible progression to ovarian cancer.
authors.affiliation: University of Rome Sapienza, Rome, Italy. arypac@alice.it
authors.forename: Arianna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pacchiarotti
authors.forename: Donatella
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Caserta
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sbracia
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moscarini
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D001706:Biopsy; D018450:Disease Progression; D004715:Endometriosis / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D050814:Octamer Transcription Factor-3 / Q000378:metabolism*; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D019009:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit / Q000378:metabolism*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D050814:Octamer Transcription Factor-3; C494173:POU5F1 protein, human; D019009:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit