The Expression of Pluripotent Genes in Normal Human Endometrium

Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are a promising tool for the treatment of degenerative diseases since they could provide ample supplementation for deficient tissues. An adult cell type suitable for pluripotency induction should have a differentiated state amenable for reprogramming and ideally their acquisition from patients should be minimally invasive. Endometrial cells of the uterus are constantly proliferating, which suggests higher pluripontency capacity, and can be obtained with relative simplicity from donors. However, an endometrial gene expression profile necessary to determine their reprogramming fitness has not been reported. The OCT4, SOX2, NANOG and LIN‐28 genes have all been associated in pluripotency. If any of these genes are naturally expressed in the endometrium, the possibility of developing iPS cells from this tissue source would be high. By performing RT‐PCR on RNA purified from human endometrial cells, we determined that the OCT4, SOX2, NANOG and LIN‐28 genes are all significantly expressed in the endometrium. Immunohistochemical analysis confirmed nuclear expression of these pluripotent genes in normal human endometrial epithelial cells. These results suggest that endometrial tissue should be further explored as a cellular source for reprogramming into pluripotent stem cells, which in turn could be used in future regenerative medicine therapies.