Prostaglandin E2 signaling pathways in human myometrial cells
Date
2014-07-04
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Abstract
Prostaglandins are implicated in the process of human labour, but their exact roles and regulation are unknown. Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) represses interleukin-1β (IL-1β) induced inflammatory mediator output in human lower segment myometrial cells via activation of EP2 and EP4 receptors. Stimulation of EP2 and EP4 increases intracellular cAMP, therefore experiments within this thesis aimed to determine which downstream cAMP mediator is responsible for this effect. The data suggest that exchange proteins directly activated by cAMP (Epacs) are not involved, but the role of protein kinase A (PKA) remains equivocal. PGE2 also upregulates expression of regulator of G protein signaling 2 (RGS2) in human lower segment myometrial cells. Results discussed in this thesis suggest that EP2 and EP4 are responsible for this effect. Further work to explore the role and regulation of the prostaglandin pathway in parturition will help identify better targets for treatment of preterm labour and labour induction.
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Physiology, Obstetrics and Gynecology
Citation
Levinson, H. S. (2014). Prostaglandin E2 signaling pathways in human myometrial cells (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/27465