The role of KDR in intrauterine adhesions may involve the TGF-β1/Smads signaling pathway
Braz. j. med. biol. res; 52 (10), 2019
Publication year: 2019
The aim of this study was to investigate the role of kinase-insert domain-containing receptor (KDR) in intrauterine adhesions (IUA) and its mechanism. The Case group consisted of 92 patients diagnosed with IUA, and the Control group included 86 patients with uterine septum who had normal endometrium verified with an uteroscope. In addition, 50 rats were randomly assigned into Control, Sham, Model, NC-siRNA, and KDR-siRNA groups. Rats in the Model, NC-siRNA, and KDR-siRNA groups were induced by uterine curettage and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) treatment to establish the IUA model. Then, immunohistochemistry was applied for detection of VEGF and KDR expression, HE staining was used for observation of the endometrial morphology and gland counting, Masson staining for measurement of the degree of endometrial fibrosis, and qRT-PCR and western blot for the expression of KDR, VEGF, MMP-9, as well as TGF-β1/Smads pathway-related proteins. Compared with the Control group, the mRNA and protein expressions of KDR were significantly higher in IUA endometrial tissues, and the expression of KDR was positively correlated to the severity of IUA. In addition, the injection of si-KDR increased the number of endometrial glands, reduced the area of fibrosis, inhibited mRNA and protein expression of KDR and VEGF, up-regulated the expression of MMP-9 and Smad7, and decreased the expression level of TGF-β1, p-Smad2, p-Smad3, and Smad4 in rats with IUA. Highly-expressed KDR was related to patients' severity of IUA, and silencing KDR may prevent the occurrence and development of IUA via TGF-β1/Smads signaling pathway and up-regulating the expression of MMP-9.
Western Blotting, Estudios de Casos y Controles, Modelos Animales de Enfermedad, Inmunohistoquímica, Ratas Wistar, Reacción en Cadena en Tiempo Real de la Polimerasa, Índice de Severidad de la Enfermedad, Transducción de Señal, Proteínas Smad/genética, Proteínas Smad/metabolismo, Adherencias Tisulares/metabolismo, Adherencias Tisulares/patología, Factor de Crecimiento Transformador beta1/genética, Factor de Crecimiento Transformador beta1/metabolismo, Enfermedades Uterinas/metabolismo, Enfermedades Uterinas/patología, Receptor 2 de Factores de Crecimiento Endotelial Vascular/genética, Receptor 2 de Factores de Crecimiento Endotelial Vascular/metabolismo