The Mechanism Exploration of Follicular Fluids on Granulose Cell Apoptosis in Endometriosis-Associated Infertility.

Objective: To explore the mechanisms of follicular fluids (FFs) on granulose cell (GC) apoptosis in endometriosis-associated infertility.
Materials and Methods: 60 infertile women were enrolled. The FFs from 30 endometriosis-associated infertility (EI) patients were collected and processed by ELISA hormone assay and proteomic profiling. The ovary GCs collected from 30 tubal-associated infertility (TI) patients were cultured in follicular fluids of endometriosis-associated infertility patients (EI-FFs), and the apoptosis mechanisms were explored by flow cytometry assay, real-time PCR, Western blotting, and protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis.
Results: Our results showed that the expression of 22 specific proteins was significantly different in the FFs from EI and TI patients, and the level of testosterone and anti-Müllerian hormone was not obviously different between the two groups. EI-FFs could accelerate the apoptosis process of granulose cells of tubal-associated infertility patients (TI-GCs) by regulating the expression of 5 apoptosis-related proteins including BCL2, BAX, CASP3, CASP9, and TP53. The correlation of these 22 specific proteins and 5 apoptosis-related proteins was analyzed by PPI, and 5 protein biomarkers (INS, CXCL10, ICAM1, WIF1, and TNFRSF13C) and 5 signaling pathways (cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, apoptosis, regulation of actin cytoskeleton, MAPK, and p53 signaling pathway) were predicted.
Conclusion: This research clarified the effect and explored the mechanisms of EI-FFs on the apoptosis of TI-GCs and indicated the protein biomarkers and signaling pathways for further study.
Competing Interests: The authors declared no potential conflicts of interests with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.
(Copyright © 2021 Lu Chen et al.)