Paracrine stimulation of interstitial collagenase (MMP-1) in the human endometrium by interleukin 1alpha and its dual block by ovarian steroids.
In the cycling human endometrium, the expression of interstitial collagenase (MMP-1) and of several related matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) follows the late-secretory fall in sex steroid plasma concentrations and is thought to be a critical step leading to menstruation. The rapid and extensive lysis of interstitial matrix that precedes menstrual shedding requires a strict control of these proteinases. However, the mechanism by which ovarian steroids regulate endometrial MMPs remains unclear. We report here that, in the absence of ovarian steroids, MMP-1 expression in endometrial fibroblasts is markedly stimulated by medium conditioned by endometrial epithelial cells. This stimulation can be prevented by antibodies directed against interleukin 1alpha (IL-1alpha) but not against several other cytokines. Ovarian steroids inhibit the release of IL-1alpha and repress MMP-1 production by IL-1alpha-stimulated fibroblasts. In short-term cultures of endometrial explants obtained throughout the menstrual cycle, the release of both IL-1alpha and MMP-1 is essentially limited to the perimenstrual phase. We conclude that epithelium-derived IL-1alpha is the key paracrine inducer of MMP-1 in endometrial fibroblasts. However, MMP-1 production in the human endometrium is ultimately blocked by ovarian steroids, which act both upstream and downstream of IL-1alpha, thereby exerting an effective control via a "double-block" mechanism.[1]References
- Paracrine stimulation of interstitial collagenase (MMP-1) in the human endometrium by interleukin 1alpha and its dual block by ovarian steroids. Singer, C.F., Marbaix, E., Kokorine, I., Lemoine, P., Donnez, J., Eeckhout, Y., Courtoy, P.J. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. (1997) [Pubmed]
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