Dihydrotestosterone potentiates insulin to up-regulate prokineticin-1 in decidualizing human endometrial stromal cells |
| |
| Authors: | Dorina Ujvari Carlota Graells Brugalla Angelica Lindén Hirschberg |
| |
| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden;2. Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden Department of Gynecology and Reproductive Medicine, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden |
| |
| Abstract: | Prokineticin 1 (PROK1) is a key regulator of embryo implantation and placentation, and its dysregulation is associated with pregnancy complications, such as pre-eclampsia and foetal growth restriction. We have previously shown that insulin strongly enhances the expression of PROK1 in human decidualizing stromal cells. Here, we demonstrate that dihydrotestosterone (DHT), but not testosterone, potentiates insulin to up-regulate PROK1 in these cells. However, the androgens alone do not influence the expression of PROK1. Our findings suggest that insulin and androgens both are involved in the regulation of PROK1 that could have implications for normal and pathological pregnancies. |
| |
| Keywords: | decidualization dihydrotestosterone endometrium insulin PROK1 testosterone |
|
|
