Current Protein and Peptide Science - Volume 18, Issue 2, 2017

Early studies often claimed that autonomic nerves were unimportant for uterine function, since denervation of the uterus had little effects on reproductive success. In 1979, Thorbert wrote, “It seems unlikely that Nature has equipped the uterus with a complex innervation merely as a structural ornament. Our ignorance in this area may be rather due to defects in methods of study”. Investigations carried out over the l Read More

Cervical remodeling (CR) is a complex process, which, in part, is believed to be induced by physiological inflammation. Even though the female reproductive tissues are richly innervated by nerves from the parasympathetic pelvic autonomic ganglia, sensory dorsal root and nodose ganglia, their roles (neuronal factors) in this process (CR) has been largely attributed to sex steroid hormones, until recently. Here, we discuss th Read More

Wound healing is the process by which a complex cascade of biochemical events is responsible of the repair the damage. In vivo, studies in humans and mice suggest that healing and post-healing heterogeneous behavior of the surgically wounded myometrium is both phenotype and genotype dependent. Uterine wound healing process involves many cells: endothelial cells, neutrophils, monocytes/macrophages, lymphocytes, fib Read More

Fibroids or myomas involve large proportion of women of reproductive age. The myoma formation starts from the transformation of the myometrium, causing the progressive formation of a pseudocapsule, which is made of compressed muscle fibers. Numerous studies investigated on myoma pseudocapsule anatomy, discovering many neurotransmitters and neuropeptides, as a neurovascular bundle, influencing my Read More

Human female reproductive system is closely dependent by hormonal stimulation. Anyway it is now commonly stated that autonomic innervation system regulates, along with hormonal stimulation, the uterine physiology. Cholinergic and adrenergic innervations have a critical role in mediating input to the uterus, but other neurotransmitters and neuropeptides exist that influence uterine physiology, as well. In the present investi Read More

Collagen IV and Laminin are localized in cells and tissue of numerous human organs including the uterus, where these polypeptides control either age changes, or uterus growth in pregnancy, or ripening and dilatation in labor. Authors examined the polypeptides distribution of collagen IV and Laminin in the human pregnant uterus, in normal and dystocic labor, to clarify their physiologic role, by distribution and/or their changes Read More

Utilizing both primary myometrial cells and a myometrial cell line, we show here that myometrial cells undergo transition to a myofibroblast-like phenotype after a biological insult of 72 hours serum starvation and serum add-back (SB: 1% to 10% FBS). We also found that thrombospondin-1 was increased and that the transforming growth factor-beta (TGFB)-SMAD3/4 pathway was activated. This pathway is a key mediator of Read More

Uterine leiomyoma is a benign smooth muscle tumor characterized by a high incidence in women of reproductive age. The aetiology of this tumor is still unknown but established risk factors include high levels of female hormones, family history, African ancestry, early age of menarche and obesity. Here, to identify proteomic features associated with this tumor type, we performed a liquid chromatography-mass spectrometr Read More

Peptides and neuropeptides influence the uterine disorders of healing or cicatrization, chronic pelvic pain and disorder of pregnancy, labor and puerperium. They also promote changes in the lower uterine segment (LUS) during pregnancy, labor and delivery. We investigated the tissue quantity of neurotensin (NT), neuropeptide tyrosin (NPY) and Protein Gene Product 9.5 (PGP 9.5) in women submitted to elective cesare Read More

With the rapid development of targeted therapy and our understanding of the underlying molecular mechanisms, drug repurposing is becoming trendy in drug development field. Drugs that display promising therapeutic effects towards multiple diseases tend to target important signaling proteins. Insulin resistance and obesity are strongly associated and both are reported to be correlated with cancer, suggesting they may Read More