Abstract
(1) Background: Endometriosis is a common pathology of the female reproductive system, often accompanied by pain and decreased fertility. However, its pathogenesis has not been sufficiently studied regarding the role of the cytoskeleton. In this study, we describe two clinical cases involving rare localization of extragenital endometriosis (umbilicus) and compare them with genital endometriosis of different localization (ovaries and uterus), as well as eutopic endometrium obtained with separate diagnostic curettage without confirmed pathology. (2) Methods: The relative content of actin and tubulin cytoskeleton proteins was determined by Western blotting, and the expression of genes encoding these proteins was determined by RT-PCR in the obtained intraoperative biopsies. The content of 5hmC was estimated by dot blot experiments, and the methylase/demethylase and acetylase/deacetylase contents were determined. (3) Results: The obtained results indicate that the content of the actin-binding protein alpha-actinin1 significantly increased (p < 0.05) in the groups with endometriosis, and this increase was most pronounced in patients with umbilical endometriosis. In addition, both the mRNA content of the ACTN1 gene and 5hmC content increased. It can be assumed that the increase in 5hmC is associated with a decrease in the TET3 demethylase content. Moreover, in the groups with extragenital endometriosis, alpha- and beta-tubulin content was decreased (p < 0.05) compared to the control levels. (4) Conclusions: In analyzing the results, further distance of ectopic endometrial foci from the eutopic localization may be associated with an increase in the content of alpha-actinin1, probably due to an increase in the expression of its gene and an increase in migration potential. In this case, a favorable prognosis can be explained by a decrease in tubulin content and, consequently, a decrease in the rate of cell division.
Highlights
In recent years, endometriosis has become an increasingly common gynecological pathology; one possible cause is the influence of various environmental factors on the onset and development of this disease
Group 1 (n = 6): a control group of women with confirmed menopause for at least years prior to the study who had no anamnesis of endometriosis
Group 2 (n = 6): a control group of fertile women whose average age corresponded to the age of patients with endometriosis, but who had no anamnesis of endometriosis
Summary
Endometriosis has become an increasingly common gynecological pathology; one possible cause is the influence of various environmental factors on the onset and development of this disease. Endometriosis is the formation of foci of tissue that is similar to endometrial epithelium outside the uterine cavity. This pathogenesis contradicts one of the key paradigms of embryonic development, where each type of cell, after passing through all stages of differentiation and morphogenesis, remains in its microenvironment, interacting with neighboring cells and cell types. There is more and more evidence that the leading role in the adhesion of endometrial cells to the peritoneal mesothelium is played by the epithelial–mesenchymal transition which the mesothelium cells underwent [1] Evidence of such a transition is a decrease in epithelial (E-cadherin, desmoplakin, mucin-1, occludin and claudin) and an increase in mesenchymal (N-cadherin, smooth muscle actin, vimentin, fibronectin, etc.)
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