In a preclinical mouse model of endometriosis we demonstrated overexpression of the PGE<sub>2</sub>-signaling pathway (including COX-2, EP<sub>2</sub>, EP<sub>4</sub>) in endometriosis lesions, dorsal root ganglia (DRG), spinal cord, thalamus and forebrain.
These epigenetic changes along with differential binding of ERβ (as a transcription factor) in CYP19A1 promoters may impair follicular steroidogenesis, leading to poor Oocyte and embryo condition in endometriosis patients.
In conclusion, our study establishes the involvement of MMP-2 activity via COX-2-PGE2-pAKT axis in promoting angiogenesis during endometriosis progression.
In the endometriotic lesions, prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) produced by cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), binds to its EP4 receptor (EP4), and via c-Src kinase induces MMPs activation, promoting endometriosis.
Immunohistochemistry was performed to compare PR-B expression between eutopic and ectopic endometrial tissues from women with and without advanced-stage endometriosis.
We showed that the miR-196a level is associated with reduced expression of PGR isoforms through MEK/ERK, suggesting that miR-196a and MEK/ERK are both potential biomarkers of endometriosis.
The present study identified that in Brazilian women the presence of the ancestral allele, -765G, of the COX-2 gene is associated with an increased risk for development of moderate/severe endometriosis associated with fertility, and that the eutopic endometrium of women with endometriosis showed increased expression of COX-2 when compared to the control group.
Defective CpG methylation affecting several genes that encode key transcription factors such as GATA6, steroidogenic factor-1, and estrogen receptor-β in endometriosis gives rise to overproduction of local estrogen and prostaglandins and suppression of progesterone receptor.
In conclusion, DNG exerts comprehensive inhibition of abnormal estrogen production through inhibition of aromatase and HSD17β1, contributing to a therapeutic effect of DNG on endometriosis.
This finding may be helpful in understanding infertility associated with endometriosis and reduced P450 aromatase activity in endometriotic granulosa cells.
The findings of our study on histone acetylation, endometriosis and the CYP19 gene provide insight which may aid in the research of histone acetylation and suggest that the CYP19 gene may be a novel therapeutic target and method for the treatment of endometriosis.
Our results show reduced expression of the CYP19A1 in cumulus cells of infertile women with endometriosis, which may play a role in the pathogenesis of endometriosis-related infertility.
In the present study, we investigated the pharmacological effects of DNG through these PR isoforms on the expression of CYP19A1 which encodes aromatase and inflammatory and neuroangiogenesis factors associated with the pain and progression of endometriosis.