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Updated: Aug 19, 2026
Identification of Intracellular Signaling Events Induced in Viable Cells by Interaction with Neighboring Cells Undergoing Apoptotic Cell Death
Published on: December 27, 2016
Progestin-induced apoptosis in the Macaque ovarian epithelium: differential regulation of transforming growth
Gustavo C Rodriguez1, Nimesh P Nagarsheth, Karen L Lee
1Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA. grodriguez@enh.org
Background:
Oral contraceptive (OC) use is associated with a reduced risk of ovarian cancer. An OC component, progestin, induces apoptosis in the primate ovarian epithelium. One regulator of apoptosis is transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta). We determined the effect of progestin on TGF-beta expression in the primate ovarian epithelium and examined the relationship between TGF-beta expression and apoptosis.
Methods:
Female cynomolgus macaques were randomly assigned to receive a diet for 35 months containing no hormones (n = 20); the OC Triphasil (n = 17); or each of its constituents, ethinyl estradiol (estrogen, n = 20) or levonorgestrel (progestin, n = 18 ), alone. Ovarian sections were immunostained with monoclonal antibodies against TGF-beta1 or TGF-beta2 plus TGF-beta3 (TGF-beta2/3) isoforms. The expression of TGF-beta isoforms in four ovarian compartments (epithelium, oocytes, granulosa cells, and hilar vascular endothelium) was compared among treatment groups. The association between TGF-beta expression and apoptosis, as determined by morphology and histochemistry, was examined in ovarian epithelium. All statistical tests were two-sided.
Results:
Compared with ovaries from the control and estrogen-only-treated monkeys, the ovaries of progestin-treated monkeys showed 1) a marked decrease in the expression of TGF-beta1 and a concomitant increase in the expression of the TGF-beta2/3 isoforms in the ovarian epithelium (P<.001), 2) an increase in the expression of TGF-beta2/3 in the hilar vascular endothelium (P<.001), and 3) a marked decrease in TGF-beta2/3 expression in granulosa cells (P<.001). The apoptotic index of the ovarian epithelium was highly associated with the change in expression from TGF-beta1 (P<.001) to TGF-beta2/3 (P
Conclusions:
Progestin induces differential regulation in the ovarian epithelium of TGF-beta, a change in the expression of which is highly associated with apoptosis. These data suggest a possible biologic mechanism for the protective association between OC use and reduced ovarian cancer risk.
