| Abstrakt: |
There are a number of approaches that have been used in the past to describe and analyze the hormonal influences and mechanisms that govern primate endometrial responses as well as the regulation of cellular responses in many complex heterogeneous tissues. These have included gross anatomy, morphology/histology, hormonal manipulation, steroid binding assays, and immunohistochemical and in situ hybridization analyses. Transmission and scanning electron microscopy as well as ultrasound have also been used to study uterine (endometrial) structure. Recently, a number of new and powerful cellular and molecular techniques have been added to our arsenal of approaches to study tissue and cell-type gene and protein expression. These include quantitative (real-time) PCR analysis of gene expression, differential display, gene microarray analyses, proteomic analysis, and laser capture microdissection (LCM). LCM is a new technology that has substantially expanded our ability to examine cell-type-specific and region-specific responses in complex cellular tissues. Importantly, this technique allows the retrieval of specific cells from specific morphologic units within the tissue of interest. The primate endometrium is an example of a complex heterogeneous tissue that requires proper cellular maturation/differentiation to achieve a hospitable environment for embryo implantation. The genes and gene networks that are involved in this process are likely to be regulated in a temporal, spatial, and cell-type-specific context within this tissue. As an example, we present some of our recent work on the application of LCM in our studies on the hormonal regulation of gene expression in this complex tissue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
