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Updated: Aug 17, 2026

Isolation of Mouse Endometrial Epithelial and Stromal Cells for In Vitro Decidualization
Published on: March 2, 2017
Human endometrial epithelial cells (EEC) constitutively express more intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1 than
Sylvie Defrère1, Anne Van Langendonckt, Pierre Moulin
1Department of Gynaecology, Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium.
Problem:
Intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) is thought to play an important role in pathophysiological processes in endometrial tissue. The aim of this study was to quantify and compare the expression of ICAM-1 mRNA and protein in cultured endometrial epithelial cells (EEC) versus endometrial stromal cells (ESC).
Method Of Study:
EEC and ESC were isolated from human endometrium and cultured. At confluency, ICAM-1 mRNA was measured by real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, the membrane-bound form (mICAM-1) by immunocytodensitometry, and the soluble form (sICAM-1) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
Results:
At the transcriptional level, we observed a 1.7-fold increase in ICAM-1 expression in EEC versus ESC. mICAM-1 immunostaining in EEC [cell-relative membrane-bound signal-specific optical density (CR-M-SOD): 0.056 +/- 0.05] was stronger (P < 0.05) than in ESC (CR-M-SOD: 0.009 +/- 0.07). EEC were found to secrete more (P < 0.01) sICAM-1 ([sICAM-1] = 15.59 +/- 2.96 ng/mL) than ESC ([sICAM-1] = 5.14 +/- 2.61 ng/mL).
Conclusions:
Cultured EEC constitutively express significantly more ICAM-1 mRNA and protein than ESC.
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