Regulation of the PI3K/Akt pathway during decidualization of endometrial stromal cells
Fig 1
(A) Treatment with cAMP (0.5 mM) and MPA (10-6M) for 9 days induced a morphological change in HIESC from a spindle to an ovoid shape. Images were taken using an Olympus BX60 microscope at 40x magnification. (B) mRNA were analysed by RT-PCR. β-actin was used as an internal control. Image shown are from one representative experiment. Graphics represent densitometric analysis. (C) Induction of PRL secretion by the same treatment in HIESC at different days of culture (1, 3, 6 and 9). A significant increase was found at days 6 and 10 with maximal levels observed at day 6 (P<0.0001). Expression of decidual marker genes, IGFBP1 (D) mRNA expression of either PRL or IGFBP1 were quantified following three day treatments. Cells were incubated in the presence of either cAMP (0.5 mM), MPA (10μM) or a combination of both. Cells were lysed after three days, RNA was extracted and qRT-PCR analyses were performed to quantify PRL or IGBP1 expression. 18S mRNA expression was used as control for qPCR results. All data are means ± SEM three independent experiments. Different letters represent significantly different means (p<0.05).