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Frequent Migration of Ectopic Endometrial Cells to the Brain in a Murine
Model of Endometriosis.
Elham Neisani Samani1, Fei Li1, Graciela Krikun1, Ysabel Ilagan1, Levent Mutlu1, Yuping Zhou1,
Hanyia Naqvi1 and Hugh S. Taylor1
1Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, Yale School of Medicine, New
Haven, CT 06510
OBJECTIVE: Endometriosis is a chronic, painful disease characterized by the presence of
endometrial cells outside of the uterus. The existence of endometriosis in organs distant from the
uterus, such as the brain, has been observed in humans. This study aims to determine whether
ectopic endometrial cells can migrate to the central nervous system in a murine model.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: An experimental endometriosis was created by implanting
uterine horn fragments from donor DsRed mice into recipient C57BL6 mice (age 6-8 wks, n =
10). Control mice underwent sham surgeries. Paraffin embedded tissue sections were stained by
double immunofluorescence. Primary antibodies used were polyclonal goat anti-DsRed antibody
at 1:200 dilution and rabbit anti-CD31 at 1:100 dilution. Secondary antibodies consisted of
donkey anti-goat Alexa 568 antibody and donkey anti-rabbit Alexa 488 antibody, both at 1:200
dilutions. Visualizations of the slides were conducted using a confocal microscope (ZEISS LSM
710).
RESULTS: Immunofluorescence staining demonstrated DsRed positive cells in the majority of
recipient C57BL6 mouse brains. We also observed the presence of CD31+DsRred+ in the
experimental endometriosis mice, suggesting incorporation of endometrial cells into vessels.
CONCLUSION: Ectopic endometrial cells can migrate to the brain. These cells give rise to
endometriosis in the brain as well as to endothelial cells. The ability to of endometriosis to give
rise to both endometrial and endothelial cells suggests that the mobilized cells are stem cells.
Further, the migration occurred in most mice, suggesting that migration of endometriosis to
organ outside of the pelvis may be common and clinically unrecognized.
This work was supported by the National Institute of Health R01-R01HD076422 grant.
