P-338: Aberrant methylation in aromatase gene may be responsible for its aberrant expression in endometriotic stromal cells

Abstract

Endometriosis is known as an estrogen-dependent disease. Up-regulation of aromatase expression in the endometriotic tissues has been demonstrated. Aberrant expression of aromatase may play a role in pathogenesis of endometriosis. In the present study, we examined aromatase expression in endometrial and endometriotic stromal cells. We tried to induce aromatase gene expression in endometrial stromal cells using a demethylation agent. We further characterized predicted CpG islands (CpGI) in upstream region of the aromatase gene.