| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Submitted on January 10, 2007
Accepted on April 2, 2007
Institute for Women's Health Research (J.E.B., V.U., T.K.W.) Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL 60611; Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University (T.K.W.), Chicago, IL 60611; Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Cell Biology (K.E.M.), Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208; and Center for Reproductive Science (S.M.K., K.E.M., T.K.W.), Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: tkw{at}northwwestern.edu.
Chronic ovulation as a contributing factor for the development of epithelial ovarian cancer in women has long been an outstanding hypothesis. To test the incessant ovulation hypothesis, mice were superovulated using weekly intraperitoneal injections of pregnant mare serum gonadotropin (5IU/animal) followed 48 hours later by human chorionic gonadotropin (5IU/animal). Wild-type CD1 mice were utilized along with CD1 mice expressing a Smad2-dominant negative (Smad2DN) transgene under the control of the Müllerian inhibiting substance promoter that targets expression to the ovary and enhances cyst formation. After chronic injections, ovaries were analyzed from animals six months of age for the total number adjusted of cysts, cyst area, cyst location, and key signaling pathways. All observed cysts were confirmed to be of epithelial origin. The number of cysts was not significantly different between superovulated and control mice in either the wild-type or Smad2DN groups. However, the combination of Smad2DN transgene and superovulation resulted in an increase in cyst formation compared to normal littermates that were unstimulated. Rapid proliferation of the cells lining the cysts was detected using bromodeoxyuridine and phospho-histone 3 immunohistochemistry but was not different in the ovarian surface epithelium (OSE) or in the cyst lining between groups. These data suggest that chronic superovulation in Smad2DN mice results in a higher incidence of cyst formation compared to unstimulated controls, but the epithelial lined cysts did not progress to cancer over the course of this study.
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
T. R. Kumar Multiple Ovulations, Ovarian Epithelial Inclusion Cysts, and It'SMAD Two! Endocrinology, August 1, 2007; 148(8): 3591 - 3594. [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH |
| Endocrinology | Endocrine Reviews | J. Clin. End. & Metab. |
| Molecular Endocrinology | Recent Prog. Horm. Res. | All Endocrine Journals |