title: ERα and ERK1/2 MAP kinase expression in microdissected stromal and epithelial endometrial cells.
abstract: Our previous published data detected higher expression of total and active mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) in the epithelial vs. stromal cells of the endometrium. In the present work we compared the expression of ERK1/2 MAPK and estrogen receptor α (ERα) in epithelial versus stromal cells in benign human endometrial tissues. Laser capture microdissection was used to separate glandular epithelium and stromal cells from six frozen, proliferative phase endometrial specimens. Total and phosphorylated levels for ERK1/2 and ERα were measured by quantitation of signals from Western blots using specific antibodies against the active and total forms of ERK1/2 and against ERα. When the level of the proteins was quantitated and normalized to β actin from microdissected stroma and epithelium, no significant difference was detected in the levels of these proteins between the two tissue compartments. There was a trend toward higher expression in the stroma vs. epithelium, respectively (active ERK1/2 0.45 ± 0.17 vs. 0.2 ± 0.65; total ERK1/2 0.54 ± 0.35 vs. 0.28 ± 0.23; ERα 0.82 ± 0.28 vs. 0.54 ± 0.18; n=6). These data demonstrate that there are comparable levels of ERα (P=0.41), total ERK1/2 (P=0.18) and active ERK1/2 (P=0.13) in the stroma and epithelium of proliferative phase endometrium with a trend toward higher expression of these proteins in the stromal compartment.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Pathology, Al Azhar University, Faculty of Medicine, Assuit Branch, Egypt.
authors.forename: Said Abu Alkhair
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Mohamed
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Pathology, Al Azhar University, Faculty of Medicine, Assuit Branch, Egypt.
authors.forename: Ihab Shafek
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Atta
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Structural and Cellular Biology, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, United States.
authors.forename: Brian G
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Rowan
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, United States. Electronic address: mohamed.desouki@vanderbilt.edu.
authors.forename: Mohamed Mokhtar
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Desouki
mesh_terms: D049109:Cell Proliferation; D004717:Endometrium / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000201:enzymology*; D047628:Estrogen Receptor alpha / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D061346:Laser Capture Microdissection; D019950:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1 / Q000378:metabolism*; D048052:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 3 / Q000378:metabolism*; D017154:Stromal Cells / Q000201:enzymology*
chemical_list: C506487:ESR1 protein, human; D047628:Estrogen Receptor alpha; C535150:MAPK1 protein, human; D019950:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1; D048052:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 3
keywords: ERK1/2 kinase; Endometrium; Estrogen receptor; LCM/MAPK