Endometrial stem/progenitor cells: the first 10 years

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

• Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
• Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
• Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
• Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
• Emerging · Emerging topic under active research

Abstract (original English)

Background The existence of stem/progenitor cells in the endometrium was postulated many years ago, but the first functional evidence was only published in 2004. The identification of rare epithelial and stromal populations of clonogenic cells in human endometrium has opened an active area of research on endometrial stem/progenitor cells in the subsequent 10 years. Methods The published literature was searched using the PubMed database with the search terms 'endometrial stem cells and menstrual blood stem cells' until December 2014. Results Endometrial epithelial stem/progenitor cells have been identified as clonogenic cells in human and as label-retaining or CD44(+) cells in mouse endometrium, but their characterization has been modest. In contrast, endometrial mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) have been well characterized and show similar properties to bone marrow MSCs. Specific markers for their enrichment have been identified, CD146(+)PDGFRβ(+) (platelet-derived growth factor receptor beta) and SUSD2(+) (sushi domain containing-2), which detected their perivascular location and likely pericyte identity in endometrial basalis and functionalis vessels. Transcriptomics and secretomics of SUSD2(+) cells confirm their perivascular phenotype. Stromal fibroblasts cultured from endometrial tissue or menstrual blood also have some MSC characteristics and demonstrate broad multil

Evidence level

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

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