title: Expression of HOXA-10 and HOXA-11 in the endometria of women with idiopathic infertility.
abstract: In fertile women, HOXA-10 and HOXA-11 expression rises during the luteal phase, with the peak occurring during the implantation window, and stays at a high level until the end of the cycle. We evaluated the transcript and protein levels of HOXA-10 and HOXA-11 in the endometria of patients with idiopathic infertility (n = 15) and control patients (n = 10). The amounts of mRNA were determined by reverse transcription and real-time quantitative PCR. The protein levels were evaluated by Western blotting analysis. Using immunohistochemical techniques, we compared the localization of HOXA-10 and HOXA-11 proteins in the implantation window between the study and control groups. We observed statistically significantly decreased HOXA-10 and HOXA-11 transcript levels (p = 0.003, p = 0.012 respectively) in infertile patients compared to controls. There was no significant decrease in HOXA-10 protein levels between these groups (p = 0.074). However, we observed a significantly higher level of HOXA-11 protein in the endometria of infertile patients compared to controls (p = 0.015). HOXA-10 and HOXA-11 proteins were localized in the nuclei of the endometrial stromal cells. Immunohistochemical analyses did not reveal differences between amounts of HOXA-10 and HOXA-11 protein levels in infertility and control groups. Our results suggest that HOXA-10 and HOXA-11 gene expression in the endometrium during the implantation window may not be altered in patients with idiopathic infertility.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Gynecological Oncology, Division of Reproduction, K. Marcinkowski Medical University, Poznan, Poland.
authors.forename: Malgorzata
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Szczepańska
authors.forename: Przemyslaw
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wirstlein
authors.forename: Michał
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Luczak
authors.forename: Paweł
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jagodzinski
authors.forename: Jana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Skrzypczak
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015153:Blotting, Western; D004717:Endometrium / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D000080905:Homeobox A10 Proteins; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007247:Infertility, Female / Q000235:genetics*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: C484298:HOXA11 protein, human; D000080905:Homeobox A10 Proteins; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; C069634:HOXA10 protein, human