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The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism Vol. 82, No. 5 1409-1415
Copyright © 1997 by The Endocrine Society


Reproductive Endocrinology

Production of Endometrial Matrix Metalloproteinases, but Not Their Tissue Inhibitors, is Modulated by Progesterone Withdrawal in an in Vitro Model for Menstruation1

L. A. Salamonsen, A. R. Butt, F. R. Hammond, S. Garcia and J. Zhang

Prince Henry’s Institute of Medical Research, Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Dr. L. A. Salamonsen, Prince Henry’s Institute of Medical Research, PO Box 5152, Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia. E-mail: \|[lt ]\|lois.salamonsen{at}med.monash.edu.au\|[gt ]\|


    Abstract
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and their tissue inhibitors (TIMPs) are implicated in normal menstruation, but the mechanism of their regulation is not yet clear. Human endometrial stromal cell cultures were established to mimic the events of the late luteal phase of the menstrual cycle: after 6 days of culture with estradiol 17ß (10 nmol/L) and progestin (P, 100 nmol/L), half the cells were subjected to P withdrawal, and medium was harvested on day 10. Decidualization of the cells was verified by PRL immunohistochemistry. Latent MMP-1, -2, -3, and -9 were detected by zymography and quantitated by densitometry, and production of all enzymes was increased on withdrawal of P. This increase was confirmed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for MMP-1. TIMP-1, -2, and -3 also were produced by the cells, with a mean ratio of 3.9:1:1.2, respectively. There was no effect of P withdrawal on either the amount of each TIMP or their relative concentrations. Expression of the messenger RNA for TIMP-1 or TIMP-2 also was not changed by P withdrawal. Thus, withdrawal of P alters the ratio of MMPs to TIMPs in this model in favor of MMPs and, hence, of tissue degradation. However, the focal nature of menstruation-associated MMP activity suggests that P withdrawal is unlikely to be the only factor responsible for in vivo induction of MMPs at menstruation.


    Introduction
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
MENSTRUATION occurs at the end of each normal reproductive cycle in women and old-world primates. The loss of blood, which is the outward sign of menstruation, is associated with shedding of cellular debris from partial degradation of the functionalis layer of the endometrium. The classical study of menstruation in rhesus monkeys (1) defined the morphological sequence of events leading to menstruation as: regression of endometrial thickness, followed by intense vasoconstriction and subsequent bleeding from focal points. The study attributed the tissue loss to necrosis. However, more recent studies, using both scanning electron microscopy (2) and transmission electron microscopy (3), have revealed that small lesions in the luminal epithelium and degradation of basal lamina surrounding decidual cells and underlying the endothelium of the blood vessels occur during the very late luteal phase before bleeding commences, pointing to the likelihood that the tissue degradation associated with menstruation is the result of an active, enzymatically driven process.

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are the family of enzymes that degrade components of both interstitial and basement membrane extracellular matrix: different members of the family have different substrate specificities, although there is considerable overlap (4). Importantly, the MMPs are active at the neutral pH of the extracellular space, and all are secreted in their latent forms, which require activation. In vitro, this can be achieved by a number of natural proteases, including MMP-3 (stromelysin 1), MMP-7 (matrilysin), and the membrane-type MMPs or by treatment with organomercurial compounds. Each MMP can be inhibited by specific inhibitors of MMPs (TIMPs) by the formation of 1:1 complexes or, less specifically, by {alpha}2 macroglobulin. The genes for MMPs and TIMPs are regulated by a number of biologically active factors, including steroid hormones (glucocorticoids and progesterone), growth factors, and cytokines, with considerable variation between tissues, cell types, and MMPs (5).

There is now substantial evidence that MMPs are produced in the endometrium and that expression of their messenger RNA (mRNA) is closely correlated with the process of normal menstruation (6, 7, 8, 9, 10); how this expression is regulated is not well understood (11). It has been demonstrated that progesterone withdrawal modulates the production of proMMP-1 (interstitial collagenase) by explants of both proliferative and secretory-phase endometrial tissue but not by those taken close to the time of menstruation (7). Likewise, progesterone withdrawal increases production of proMMP-2 [gelatinase A (12)] and proMMP-3 (13) by decidualized stromal cells in culture. Whether TIMP production also is affected in such systems has not been examined. The balance between the MMPs and their natural inhibitors is of primary importance in determining whether tissue degradation will occur at any given site. The present study was therefore undertaken to examine the effect of P withdrawal on the full complement of MMPs and TIMPs (and thus, the MMP:TIMP balance) secreted from primary cultures of decidualized endometrial stromal cells, using conditions designed to mimic the late luteal phase of the menstrual cycle.


    Materials and Methods
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
Collection of tissue

Endometrial tissue was obtained, by curettage, from consenting women being assessed for tubal patency and with no evidence of endometrial dysfunction. Tissue dating was initially from the patient’s testimony and was confirmed histologically. Perimenstrual and menstrual tissues were specifically excluded from the study: all tissues used were from between cycle days 8–24. Protocols were approved by institutional human ethics committees.

Cell isolation and culture

Stromal cells were prepared from human endometrial tissue, as described previously (14). Briefly, chopped tissue was digested with bacterial collagenase type III (Worthington Biochemical Corporation, Freehold, NJ), at a concentration of 45U/mL, in the presence of 3.5 µg/mL deoxyribonuclease (Boehringer Mannheim Biochemica, Mannheim, Germany) for 40 min at 37 C, filtered sequentially through 45- and 10-µm nylon filters to remove glands, and erythrocytes removed by centrifugation on Ficoll-Paque (Pharmacia, Uppsala, Sweden). Epithelial glands were recovered from the filters by backwashing (15). The resulting cells or glands were resuspended in a 1:1 mixture of DMEM and Ham’s F12 medium (Trace Biosciences, Sydney, Australia) with 10% charcoal-stripped FCS and antibiotics (penicillin, streptomycin, and fungizone) and plated in 24-well dishes (2 x 105 stromal cells or 1000 glands per well) or at a similar density in flasks for subsequent RNA preparation. After 48 h, when the cells were nearly confluent, they were washed, and medium was replaced with serum-free medium containing: insulin (10 µg/mL; human Actrapid, Novo-Nordisk Pharmaceuticals Pty. Ltd., Sydney, Australia); transferrin (10 µg/mL; Sigma Chemical Company, St. Louis, MO); sodium selenite (25 ng/mL; Sigma); epidermal growth factor (50 ng/mL; Sigma); linoleic acid (10 nmol/L; Sigma); and BSA (0.1%; Sigma). Estradiol 17ß (E, 10 nmol/L; Sigma) also was added with or without the synthetic progestin ORG2058 (P: 100 nmol/L; Organon Laboratories Ltd.), chosen for its stability in culture systems compared with natural progesterone (16). For the stromal vs.. epithelial cell analyses, medium was harvested 48 h after the change to serum-free conditions (day 2). Otherwise, cultures were maintained thus for 6 days, with changes of medium every 48 h. For the P withdrawal experiments, the cells were washed on day 6 and medium replaced either with (control) or without P. All experiments were performed in triplicate or quadruplicate wells. Cultures were terminated on day 10. Medium was centrifuged and stored at -20 C. Cells were taken for DNA analysis or for RNA preparation. Cells for immunohistochemistry were grown on serum-coated glass cover slips.

DNA assay

The DNA content of wells was determined fluorometrically (17).

Zymography and reverse zymography

Proteinase activity in unconcentrated medium samples was analyzed by zymography on 10% SDS-polyacrylamide gels containing 1 mg/mL gelatin (all reagents from BioRad, North Ryde, Australia) or 1 mg/mL casein (Sigma) under nonreducing conditions (14). Loading of samples was normalized according to the DNA content of wells. Gelatinase or caseinase activity was visualized by negative staining, and bands were identified by comparison with pure human MMPs (a gift from Dr. Hideaki Nagase, Kansas City, KS) and with molecular weight markers (BioRad; (14)). MMP identity of bands was confirmed by incubation of parallel gels in the presence of ethylenediamine tetra-acetate (EDTA) or o-phenanthroline. Reverse zymography also was performed on unconcentrated culture medium using gels of 12% polyacrylamide containing 1% gelatin and an MMP preparation from BHK-21 cells that constitutively express proMMP-2 (18). The presence of TIMPs was visualized by the presence of dark blue bands on a cleared background. Controls were standards containing mouse TIMP-1, -2, or -3, obtained from transfected BHK cells (provided by Dr. Dylan Edwards, Calgary, Canada), ovine luteal cell-conditioned medium containing TIMP-1 and -2 (a gift from Dr. Michael Smith, MO), and ovine endometrial cell conditioned medium, as previously described (18). Relative activities of MMPs or relative concentrations of TIMPs were semiquantitated by densitometric analysis of zymograms (19) using the Hewlett-Packard Scanjet IIp with Deskscan software (Hewlett-Packard, Palo Alto, CA) and area of the bands analyzed using the NIH Image Version 1.54 equipped with gel-plotting macros by measuring the area beneath the peaks plotted through the lane profile. Comparisons were made only between samples on the same gel. Analyses of doubling dilutions of samples on each of the three types of zymograms verified the semiquantitative nature of such analyses.

MMP-1 assay

MMP-1 was measured in culture medium by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (Amersham Australia, Baulkham Hills, NSW), which detects total MMP-1 (proMMP-1, active MMP-1, and MMP-1/TIMP complexes).

Immunocytochemistry

Cells grown on glass cover slips were subjected to immunocytochemistry for PRL (a marker of decidual cells) using a rabbit polyclonal antibody against human pituitary PRL (National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD). Cells were fixed with 70% ethanol, treated with 0.1% trypsin (Sigma), washed, and further treated with hydrogen peroxide (0.6%) to block endogenous peroxide. Primary antiserum was used at 1:500, incubated overnight at 4 C, followed by goat antirabbit antiserum (Vector Laboratories, Burlinghame, CA) at 1:100 for 1h at room temperature. Development used the Vectastain ABC kit (Vector Laboratories), and nuclei were counterstained with Harris hematoxylin (1:10). Sections from human placenta and from late secretory phase human endometrium were used as positive controls.

Northern blot analysis

Complementary DNA (cDNA) probes against ovine TIMP-1 (900 bp) and TIMP-2 (438 bp), both donated by Dr. M. Smith, Columbia, MO, were labelled with {alpha}32P-deoxycytidine 5'-triphosphate (Bresatec, Adelaide, Australia) to SA of 1–3 x 109 cpm/µg. A rat glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) complementary RNA probe, complementary to nucleotides 96–660 of the rat GAPDH cDNA clone, was labeled with {alpha}32P-UTP to an SA of 108 cpm/µg.

Total RNA was isolated from human endometrial cells using guanidinium isothiocyanate lysis and centrifugation through cesium chloride (20). For Northern blotting, 25 µg total RNA was denatured in 1 mol/L glyoxal with 50% dimethyl sulfoxide, electrophoresed in a 1.2% agarose gel, transferred to Hybond nylon membranes (Amersham International, Sydney, Australia), baked at 80 C for 2 h, UV cross-linked for 10 min, and prehybridized for 3 h in hybridization buffer [1 mmol/L EDTA, 0.5 mol/L sodium hydrogen phosphate (pH 7.2), and 7% SDS] at 65 C. Blots were hybridized with the appropriate 32P-labeled TIMP probe (1 x 106 cpm/mL) for 16 h at 65 C, washed at room temperature in buffer containing 2 x SSC with 0.1% SDS (1 x SSC is 0.15 mol/L sodium chloride and 15 mmol/L sodium citrate, pH 7.0) and in 0.5 x SSC, 0.1% SDS at 70 C for the TIMP-1 probe and at 1 x SSC, 0.1% SDS at 55 C for the TIMP-2 probe. Autoradiography used Fuji RX film (Fuji, Tokyo, Japan) and an intensifying screen at -80 C for 3 days and 1 day, respectively. For the GAPDH probe (1 x 106 cpm/mL), prehybridization was for 3 h at 65 C in hybridization buffer [50% formamide, 5 x SSPE (1 x SSPE is 0.15 mol/L sodium chloride, 10 mmol/L sodium phosphate, and 1 mmol/L EDTA, pH 8.0)], 0.15 mol/L tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane [Tris]-HCl (pH 8.0), 1% SDS, and 500 µg/mL heparin sodium. Hybridization was for 16 h at 65 C, and the blot was washed, initially in 2 x SSC and 0.1% SDS at room temperature and then in 0.1 x SSC and 0.1% SDS at 50 C. Autoradiography was for 5 days. Densitometric analysis of autoradiographs was performed using the Hewlett-Packard Scanjet IIp, as above. Data are expressed as relative densitometric units, corrected for loading according to the relative intensity of hybridization of the GAPDH probe.

Statistical analysis

All data are given as mean ± SEM. Combined data from 3 or 4 separate experiments for the two treatment groups, or from quadruplicate wells within an experiment for the two treatment groups, were analyzed by paired Student’s t test. Differences were considered significant at the 0.05 level.


    Results
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
MMP and TIMP production by endometrial stromal and epithelial cells in culture

Zymographic analyses demonstrated that all endometrial stromal cell cultures, collected on both 2 and 10 days after change to serum-free conditions, released MMPs-1, -2, -3, and -9 into culture medium, although there was quantitative variability between cell preparations derived from different individuals. The relative patterns of MMP production from each batch of cells were similar, with substantially more proMMP-2 than proMMP-9 and more proMMP-1 than proMMP-3 in the culture medium. The MMPs were identified by comparison of their molecular weights with standard proMMPs and by inhibition of their activities with EDTA or o-phenanthroline (14). When the medium was harvested at 2 days from separate pairs of stromal and epithelial cultures from three women and analyzed by zymography, in every case, the quantity of each MMP was substantially greater from stromal than from endometrial cells; the combined data, after semiquantitation of the zymograms by densitometry, is shown in Fig. 1Go.



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Figure 1. Production of latent (pro) forms of MMP-1, -2, -3, and -9 by paired preparations of endometrial epithelial () and stromal () cells in culture. Medium was collected from confluent cells on day 2 of culture and run on gelatin (MMP-2 and -9) or casein (MMP-1 and -3) zymograms. Data are presented as mean relative densitometric units ± SEM for each MMP and for combined data from three cell preparations. *, P < 0.05, stromal vs. epithelial.

 
Reverse zymography showed that substantial quantities of TIMPs -1, -2, and -3 also were present in the culture medium from stromal cells but in much lesser quantities (barely detectable in unconcentrated medium) from epithelial cells (data not shown). Attempts to recover additional TIMP-3 from any matrix laid down by the cultured cells were not successful.

Time course of MMP and TIMP production by decidualizing stromal cells

After 10 days of serum-free culture in the presence of E and P, stromal cells stained positively for PRL, compared with negative staining for the same batch of cells harvested on day 2 of culture (Fig. 2Go), confirming that decidualization of the cells occurred within this time. TIMPs -1, -2, and -3 increased steadily in the culture medium with time in culture (Fig. 3Go). In three of four cultures and at all times, there was substantially more TIMP-1 in the culture medium than TIMP-2 or -3. Latent MMPs (-1, -2, -3, and -9) also were released into the culture medium throughout the 10 days of culture, but there was a greater range of MMP-1, -3, and -9 activities, detected by zymography, between individual cell preparations or days of culture (data not shown) than seen for the TIMPs. ProMMP-2 was produced at a fairly constant level throughout the period of culture at concentrations somewhat higher than those of proMMP-9. ProMMP-3, although always present, was not always measurable by densitometry.



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Figure 2. Immunostaining for PRL in the same batch of endometrial stromal cells cultured under serum-free conditions for a). 2 and b). Ten days in the presence of E and P. Positive staining is seen only in the 10-day cultures.

 


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Figure 3. Change in concentrations of TIMP-1, -2, and -3 in medium from stromal cells, cultured in the presence of E and P, with time in culture. TIMPs in culture medium were analyzed by reverse zymography (A) and densitometry (B). Changes given are relative for each TIMP. ({blacksquare}), TIMP-1; (•), TIMP-2; ({blacktriangleup}), TIMP-3. Data shown are representative of one of three experiments.

 
Effect of P withdrawal on MMP and TIMP production

Image analysis of gelatin and casein zymograms demonstrated that production of all four MMPs (MMP-1, -2, -3, and -9) was increased 4 days after withdrawal of P from the cell cultures, compared with the same day of control cultures in which P was retained for the full 10 days of culture (Fig. 4Go). In all cases, most of the MMP was present in its latent form. Assay of total MMP-1 (active, latent, and TIMP-bound) in the culture medium by ELISA confirmed and emphasized the increased production after P withdrawal (Fig. 5Go). No differences were observed between the viability or metabolic activity of the cells in the two treatment groups, as assessed by phase contrast microscopy, by uptake of trypan blue and by the rate of change of color of the phenol red in the medium (a good indicator of metabolic activity of such cells).



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Figure 4. Effect of P withdrawal on MMP production by decidualized endometrial stromal cells. P was present in all culture wells until day 6 and then was either maintained () or withdrawn (). Medium from the days 10–12 period of culture was analyzed by gelatin and casein zymography and densitometry. Data (mean ± SEM) are combined from four cultures, and relative densitometric units relate to individual MMPs. *, P < 0.05 for difference between continuous P and P withdrawal.

 


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Figure 5. Effect of P withdrawal on MMP-1 production, measured by ELISA. Cultures were as detailed for Fig. 4Go. Data (mean ± SEM) are given for the combined data and for the four individual cell preparations with treatments in quadruplicate, except for culture 1, for which cultures were in duplicate. (), continuous P; (), P withdrawal; *, P < 0.05 for difference between treatment groups.

 
By contrast, no changes were seen in the relative gelatinase-binding activities of TIMP-1, -2, and -3 (analyzed in the same samples as the MMPs) when P was retained in, or withdrawn from cultures between days 6 and 10 (Fig. 6Go). Likewise, there was no alteration in the ratios of TIMP-1:TIMP-2:TIMP-3 in the media whether P was retained or withdrawn, although there were differences in the relative amounts of the three antigelatinases in medium from cell cultures derived from different endometrial samples (Table 1Go). For example, the ratio between TIMP-1 and -2 varied between 0.6:1 and 10:1. However, overall there was substantially more TIMP-1 present in the culture medium than TIMP-3 or -2.



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Figure 6. Effect of P withdrawal on TIMP production from cultured cells as detailed for Fig. 4Go. Culture medium was analyzed by reverse zymography (A) and densitometry (B). Data in B is expressed as mean densitometric units ± SEM for each TIMP in cultures with continuous P () or P withdrawal () and is pooled data from four individual cell preparations. There were no significant differences between treatments.

 

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Table 1. Relative antigelatinase concentrations of TIMPs-1, -2, and -3 in culture medium; effect of progestin withdrawal

 
Effect of P withdrawal on mRNA for TIMP-1 and -2

When mRNA derived from decidualized stromal cells that had been subjected either to continuous P for 10 days or P withdrawal from days 6–10 of culture was analyzed by Northern analysis, cDNA probes for TIMP-1 and -2 hybridized to mRNA from both treatment groups (Fig. 7Go) with signals at 0.9 kb and 1.0 kb, respectively. After densitometric analysis and correction for loading using relative hybridization to a probe for GAPDH, no differences could be seen between the two treatment groups.



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Figure 7. Northern analysis of mRNA for TIMP-1 and -2 in cultured cells treated with continuous P or after P withdrawal as detailed for Fig. 4Go. A, Specific hybridization to cDNA probes is at 0.9 kb for TIMP-1, 1.0 kb for TIMP-2, and 1.35 kb for GAPDH; B, data derived from densitometry of autoradiographs and calculated after correction for loading. Mean densitometric values for mRNA for TIMP-1 and -2 in cells after P withdrawal () are expressed as a percentage of those for mRNA from cells treated with continuous P (, 100%). Representative of one of two experiments.

 

    Discussion
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
The newly emerging concept that menstruation is an enzymatically driven process represents a paradigm shift in our understanding of the mechanism of menstruation. The earlier hypothesis, drawn from the classical studies of Markee (1), has been that ischemic damage to the walls of spiral arterioles caused both bleeding and tissue sloughing. The data presented here add further weight to the concept that menstruation involves an active process of tissue degradation dependent upon the local actions of a number of MMPs and resulting from changes in regulation of MMPs, but not TIMPs, caused, at least in part, by the withdrawal of progesterone from a decidualized endometrium.

The cell culture model was designed to mimic some of the events of the latter part of the menstrual cycle, namely, the decidualization of endometrial stromal cells and their response to the withdrawal of P, with respect to the release of MMPs and TIMPs. Positive immunostaining for PRL, an early product of such cells in vivo (21), confirmed that the cells had decidualized in culture. Although the production of all four MMP products of these cells (proMMP-1, proMMP-2, proMMP-3, and proMMP-9) increased after withdrawal of P, no parallel effect was seen on the production of TIMP-1, -2, or -3 mRNA or protein. Thus, progesterone withdrawal from the endometrium has the potential both to increase the level of MMPs within the tissue and also to change the balance between the MMPs and TIMPs that would be required for active tissue degradation. These data support the growing body of evidence that implicates the MMPs in the process of menstruation, including our demonstration that mRNA for proMMP-1 and-3 is detectable by Northern analysis only during the perimenstrual and menstrual phases in endometrial tissue taken across the normal menstrual cycle (10). This follows the fall in circulating progesterone levels during the late luteal phase. mRNA for TIMP-1 and -2 also was increased in menstrual tissue at menstruation; the lack of responsiveness of TIMP-1, -2, and -3 production by cultured decidualized stromal cells, in response to withdrawal of progesterone, suggests that the increased expression of TIMP mRNA detected by Northern analysis may represent synthesis by other cell types in the functionalis endometrium or a paracrine action of their products on the stromal cells. The suggestion that TIMP-3 may be an early marker of decidualization (22) is confirmed by its production from the decidualized cells in this study.

Most MMPs were produced by endometrial stromal, but not epithelial cells in culture, supporting in situ hybridization and immunohistochemical studies in menstrual endometrium, showing mRNA for most MMPs and protein for MMP-1 and -3 in stromal cells. Matrilysin is the exception (8), and during the present studies, it was detected in culture medium from endometrial epithelial, but not stromal cells. TIMPs also were released primarily from stromal cells. MMP-9 is not detected in stromal cells in menstrual endometrium in vivo; immunolocalization confines it to migratory cells, including macrophages, eosinophils, and neutrophils (23). MMP-9 production occurs during culture of fibroblasts from a number of sources and is probably a property of cell culture, perhaps reflecting a state of recovery from injury or a lack of regulation via the extracellular matrix, which may occur in vivo.

The regulation of production of all four MMPs from endometrial stromal cells by P supports previous individual findings for proMMP-2 and -3 (12, 13). Inhibitory effects of P on proMMP-1 and -3 have been demonstrated in both uterine and cervical tissues (7, 24, 25). The promoters of the genes for these enzymes have sequences resembling steroid hormone response elements, along with AP-1 sites (see 26). However, the repression of the expression of proMMP-2 in decidualized endometrial stromal cells by progesterone is surprising, given the very different promoter regions in the proMMP-2 gene, which contains neither hormone response elements nor AP-1 sites (27).

Both TIMP-1 and -2 expression are increased by progesterone in rabbit cervical fibroblasts (25, 28), the increase in protein being greater than that of the mRNA, suggesting that translation or stability of the mRNA is affected. Although TIMP-3 is a product of human and rat decidual cells (22, 29), whether progesterone is directly responsible for regulation of TIMP-3 production or acts via its effect on decidualization is not known. In the present study, there was no effect of P withdrawal on TIMP-1, -2, or -3 protein or mRNA for TIMP-1 or -2 in decidualized endometrial stromal cells.

Many of the MMPs were partially activated in culture medium from menstrual endometrial explants (7), and steroid hormones seemed, at least partially responsible. In the present study, MMPs were primarily in their latent form, suggesting that activation probably requires contributions from other cell types. In addition to stromal fibroblasts and decidualized cells, endometrial stroma contains vascular elements and a variable population of inflammatory cells. In particular, menstrual endometrium contains activated mast cells and eosinophils (33), which probably contribute to the production of activators of latent MMPs. Mast cell tryptase is one potentially important activator, and its ability to activate proMMP-3 has the potential to set up a cascade of proMMP activation within the endometrium (30). Further, matrilysin, a product of endometrial epithelial cells during the perimenstrual and menstrual phases (8), has a similar ability to contribute to an activation cascade (31).

In vivo, MMPs are located in the functionalis layer of the endometrium at menstruation, particularly at foci undergoing fragmentation and lysis (11). Such focal action of MMPs implies that progesterone withdrawal per se cannot be solely responsible for their regulation. Indeed, it could be postulated that during the luteal phase of the cycle, progesterone functions, in part, to maintain MMP expression in a state of repression and that this is lifted as the levels of progesterone fall during the late secretory phase, permitting a basal production of MMPs that can be further stimulated at focal points by locally-acting regulators, such as cytokines (14, 32), derived both from epithelial cells and from the inflammatory cells that become activated in the endometrium at this time (33). The clearly multifactorial regulation of MMP activities at menstruation may explain, at least in part, the multiple etiologies of menorrhagia and other disorders of menstruation.


    Acknowledgments
 
We thank Professor Gabor Kovacs and Dr. Malcolm Barnett, for providing the endometrial tissue used in these studies, and the patients who generously agreed to allow their tissues to be used for research purposes. We also thank Sue Panckridge for assistance with the preparation of figures; Drs. Hideaki Nagase, Michael Smith, and Dylan Edwards for generously providing reagents; and Professor Jock Findlay for critical reading of the manuscript.


    Footnotes
 
1 This work was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (Grant 940538), NIH Grant HD-33233–02 (to L.A.S.), and the Wenkart Foundation. Back

Received August 27, 1996.

Revised December 18, 1996.

Accepted January 30, 1997.


    References
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 

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