P-84: Evidence for Differential Expression of The Pluripotency Factors c-MYC, KLF4 and LIN28 in Normal Endometrium and in Endometriosis

Background Endometriosis is a common gynecological disease characterized by the presence of endometrial tissue outside the uterine cavity. This disease affects approximately 10% of women in reproductive age and is associated with pelvic pain, dysmenorrhea and infertility. The theory of involvement of stem cells is a considered new hypothesis in etiology of endometriosis.The aim of this study was to quantify the expression of stemness genes c-MYC, KLF4 and LIN28 in the endometrium of women with and without endometriosis. MaterialsAndMethods For this respect, 10 ectopic and 10 eutopic endometrial samples and 23 normal endometrium as control group were tested in this study. The expression of c- MYC, KLF4 and LIN28 genes were analyzed with quantitative real-time PCR technique. Results Differential expression of c-MYC, KLF4 and LIN28 genes were observed in normal, ectopic and eutopic endometrium; in the way that c-MYC and KLF4 showed significantly higher expressions in ectopic tissues, compared with normal and eutopic endometrium, but the LIN28 mRNA expression was not significant between normal, ectopic and eutopic endometrium. Also, there were differences in expression of these genes in normal endometrium during the menstrual cycle. Conclusion Higher expression of c-MYC and KLF4 mRNA in ectopic endometrium can be considered as a molecular biomarker for endometriosis development and pathophysiology.