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Isolation, characterization, and function of EBAF/LEFTY B: role in infertility
Author(s) -
Tabibzadeh Siamak
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2010.05944.x
Subject(s) - isolation (microbiology) , infertility , function (biology) , characterization (materials science) , chemistry , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , genetics , pregnancy , materials science , nanotechnology
Human endometrium exhibits cyclic stromal and glandular remodeling in preparation of embryo implantation. We identified EBAF/LEFTY B as a soluble cytokine of the TGF‐β superfamily that is expressed at a low level in human endometrium during the receptivity period, while it is maximally expressed during perimenstrual and menstrual phases. Transfection of cells with EBAF/LEFTY B resulted in expression of a 42 kD protein that was proteolytically processed to release two polypeptides of 34 and 28 kD. EBAF/LEFTY B causes tissue remodeling by induction of collagenolysis by matrix metalloproteases. In a subset of infertile patients, the expression EBAF/LEFTY B was prematurely increased during the implantation window. We showed that induced overexpression of EBAF/LEFTY B in transgenic mice impairs implantation. EBAF/LEFTY B inhibits the expression of key decidual proteins, IGFBP‐1 and PRL, through regulation of transcription factors FOXO1 and ETS1. Together, these findings show that during embryonic development, EBAF/LEFTY B plays important roles in decidualization and embryo implantation.