Biology of Reproduction, Vol 24, 423-429, Copyright © 1981 by Society for the Study of Reproduction

Human Uterine Luminal Fluid Proteins Associated with Secretory Phase Endometrium: Progesterone-Induced Products?

¹ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and Vincent Research Laboratory, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02114
² Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and Vincent Research Laboratory, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02114Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and Vincent Research Laboratory, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02114
³ Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and Vincent Research Laboratory, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02114

Molecular sieve chromatography over Sephadex G-200 columns of human uterine washings from patients in the secretory phase of the menstrual cycle revealed the presence of a protein peak that was absent from serum and, with one exception, was not found in similarly treated washes of proliferative endometria. Ten of 11 secretory washes contained this material, whereas it could not be demonstrated in seven of eight of the proliferative washes and each of two washes of inactive endometria. None of the nine sera obtained simultaneously (4 proliferative, 4 secretory, and 1 inactive) contained this protein peak. This secretory-phase-specific material was shown to contain one major and several minor bands of stained protein on polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in sodium dodecyl sulfate. The major protein fraction could also be stained with the periodic acid-Schiff reagent, suggesting its glycoprotein nature. The possibility that these proteins are secreted into the lumen of the uterus as a direct result of progesterone action on this tissue is currently under investigation.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors gratefully acknowledge the valuable assistance of Jane Anthony and Jean Stuart in the completion of this work. We are also indebted to Nancy Delaney and Rosemary Cusick for their skillful preparation of this manuscript.