Thesis (Ph.D.) - Cairo University - National Institute of Laser Enhanced Sciences - Department of Laser Applications in Medical and Biological

Endometriosis is a common gynecological disorder defined as the presence of chronic ectopic functioning endometrial tissues, outside uterine cavity, primarily on the pelvic peritoneum and the ovaries. Several studies showed a correlation between aberrant stem-cell activity in the endometrium and endometriosis. Yet the molecular and cellular behaviors of mesenchymal stem cells in development of endometriosis are hampered by lack of in-vitro experiments. Our aim was to study the morphological and molecular changes associated with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) upon exposure to serum derived from women with severe endometriosis. Two cell cultures of MSCs isolated from endometrial tissues of two endometriosis-free women. Each cell culture was treated individually with two concentrations of the serum of women with endometriosis (experimental group/n = 20), and serum of women without endometriosis (control group/ n =10) for 14 days. Quantitative Real-Time PCR was done later to detect expression of OCT4, CDH1 and CDH2, STAT3 and SOX2 genes

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