Endometrial expression of cellular protooncogene c-ski and its regulation by estradiol-17 beta

The expression of the cellular protooncogene c-ski was examined in the rat uterus, In situ hybridization revealed that c-ski mRNA,vas expressed in the uterus of the adult rat on the day of estrous and localized mainly in the luminal and glandular epithelia, To test the possibility that the expressio n of c-ski mRNA is induced by estrogen, rats mere ovariectomized and estrad iol-17 beta (E-2) was injected. The expression of c-ski mRNA was upregulate d 3 h after E-2 treatment, reaching the highest level at 6 h and this persi sted until 24 h; the E-2-induced expression of c-ski mRNA was restricted to the luminal and glandular epithelia, These results suggest that the c-ski gene plays a role in uterine epithelial cell proliferation and mediates the proliferative action of E-2, (C) 1999 Federation of European Biochemical S ocieties.