Tracing cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in endometriosis

The aetiology and pathogenesis of endometriosis, defined as the presence of endometrium-like tissue outside the uterine cavity, is largely unknown. In this paper we present and discuss possibilities to study the putative path ogenic properties of endometriotic cells in vine. The current focus of our investigations is on the invasive phenotype of the disease, assuming that t his might contribute to the pathogenesis of endometriosis, So far, we have shown that: (i) cytokeratin-positive and E-cadherin-negative endometriotic cells have an invasive phenotype in a collagen invasion assay in vitro simi lar to metastatic carcinoma cells; (ii) the invasiveness of endometriotic b ut not of eutopic endometrial cells can be stimulated by a heat-stable prot ein present in peritoneal fluid; and (iii) the endometriotic cell line EEC1 45T, which we established, may be a useful tool for the identification of g ene products which are, positively or negatively, invasion-related. Finally , our studies suggest that the invasive phenotype in endometriosis shares a spects with tumour metastasis, hut might also have unique mechanisms.