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Presentation

Ihunanya Mbata
Wesleyan College

Subject Listing - Biology
Advisor: Dr. Holly Boettger-Tong

Friday, Oral Session 5, Presentation 5, Karpen Hall 101

EFFECT OF ALL-TRANS RETINOIC ACID ON PROLIFERATION IN PREGNANT HUMAN MYOMETRIAL CELLS

All-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) is a natural derivative of Vitamin A that plays an important role in proliferation and differentiation in various cell types. Previous studies have shown that uterine stromal and myometrial cells are responsive to ATRA. Specifically, previous research has shown that ATRA inhibits estrogen-induced uterine stromal and myometrial cell proliferation by halting DNA synthesis and cell division in vivo. In vitro, primary cultures of human myometrial cells also exhibit dose-dependent retinoid sensitivity. Data in this presentation will indicate that immortalized pregnant human myometrial cells respond to ATRA differently than their non-pregnant counterparts. Dosages as low as 10^-9 M ATRA resulted in cell death in the PHM-1 pregnant myometrial cell line; this dosage was not lethal in primary cultures of non-pregnant myometrial cells. To determine if this difference is due to the method of immortalization in the pregnant myometrial cells, the current study has compared PHM-1 retinoid responsiveness to that of another cell line. The HM6-1 cell line, immortalized by a completely different mechanism than that used to immortalize PHM-1 cells, exhibits similar retinoid sensitivity and analogous dose-response characteristics. The current studies also address the mechanism of retinoid induced cell death. Additional experiments will be conducted to compare retinoid responsiveness between non-pregnant primary cultures of human myometrial cells and the cell lines derived from the pregnant uterus. Partial funding for the research was provided by the Munroe Sisters Endowment Fund.

Advisor: Dr. Holly Boettger-Tong, Associate Professor, Biology, Wesleyan College, Macon, GA