Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, Vol 79, 86-90, Copyright © 1994 by Endocrine Society

ARTICLES

Progesterone-dependent secretion of macrophage colony-stimulating factor by human endometrial stromal cells of nonpregnant uterus in culture

M Kariya, H Kanzaki, T Hanamura, K Imai, S Narukawa, T Inoue, H Hatayama and T Mori
Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Faculty of Medicine, Kyoto University, Japan.

Recent studies have suggested that macrophages colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF), a hematopoietic glycoprotein essential to the proliferation and differentiation of mononuclear phagocytes and their progenitor cells, is also involved in the reproductive process in mice and humans. In this study, we examined, by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, the supernatants of stromal cell-enriched fraction (SF) of human nonpregnant endometrium for the presence of M-CSF during culture with progesterone (P) or estrogen. The bioactivity of M-CSF was assessed in a colony-forming assay of murine bone marrow cells. In addition, the M- CSF level in the culture supernatant of SF further purified by subculture, of epithelial cell-enriched fraction purified from human endometrium, and of peripheral blood lymphocytes, including about 10% monocytes, was examined with or without P, because SF is contaminated by epithelial cells and macrophages, both of which are suggested to secrete M-CSF. During 2-week culture, the level of M-CSF in the supernatants of SF cultured with P was markedly higher than that of control culture and estrogen-treated culture on any day tested, except for the first 2 days. P had a dose-dependent effect on M-CSF production by SF. Estrogen also enhanced M-CSF production by SF, but did not show dose dependency. The SF culture supernatants showed a colony-forming activity that was completely blocked by neutralizing anti-M-CSF antibody. SF subcultured three times, which was confirmed to be of more than 99% purity, secreted M-CSF in a P-dependent manner. M-CSF was also detected in the culture supernatants of epithelial cell-enriched fraction and peripheral blood lymphocytes, but P-dependent M-CSF production was not shown in these cultures. These results suggest that human endometrial stromal cells themselves can secrete bioactive M-CSF in a P-dependent manner in vitro, indicating that the M-CSF reported to be present in human endometrium is secreted in part by stromal cells and may play a role in the regulation of endometrial function under P control.

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