title: Identification of cells with colony-forming activity, self-renewal capacity, and multipotency in ovarian endometriosis.
abstract: Endometriosis, the growth of endometrial tissue outside the uterine cavity, is a common gynecological disorder affecting 10% to 15% of women in their reproductive years. Retrograde menstrual shedding containing endometrial stem/progenitor cells has been postulated to be involved in its pathogenesis. In this study, we identified putative endometriotic stem/progenitor cells by their colony-forming potential, self-renewal capacity, and multipotency. Purified epithelial and stromal cells isolated from ovarian endometriotic cysts formed large and small colony-forming units (CFUs) in clonogenic assay. The colony-forming activity of epithelial and stromal cells was found to differ greatly between autologous endometrium and ovarian endometrioma samples. The large CFUs could propagate more than the small CFUs. The endometriotic epithelial small CFUs expressed epithelial markers (epithelial cell adhesion molecule, cytokeratin, and α6 integrin); only occasional large CFUs expressed α6 integrin. Aside from the expression of fibroblast markers, stromal CFUs also expressed three somatic stem cell markers: sal-like 4, CD133, and Musashi-1. Endometriotic stromal cells derived from large CFUs could differentiate into four mesenchymal lineages when cultured in the respective inducing-media, as determined by histochemical staining and RT-PCR of lineage specific markers. These findings demonstrate that ovarian endometrioma contains a subset of cells displaying somatic stem cell properties.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and the Center of Reproduction, Development, and Growth, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China. rwschan@hkucc.hku.hk
authors.forename: Rachel Wah Shan
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Ernest Hung Yu
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.forename: William Shu Biu
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Yeung
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D019070:Cell Lineage; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D048430:Cell Shape; D002999:Clone Cells; D004715:Endometriosis / Q000473:pathology*; D004717:Endometrium / Q000473:pathology; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008648:Mesoderm / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D039902:Multipotent Stem Cells / Q000473:pathology*; D010053:Ovary / Q000473:pathology*; D010641:Phenotype; D013234:Stem Cells; D017154:Stromal Cells / Q000473:pathology; D055815:Young Adult