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Quercetin enhances decidualization through AKT-ERK-p53 signaling and supports a role for senescence in endometriosis

Julia Delenko, X. Xue, P. Chatterjee, Nathaniel Hyman, Andrew J Shih, Robert P. Adelson, Polona Safaric Tepes, Peter K. Gregersen et al.

Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology, 2024

40 citations

Abstract

Patients with endometriosis suffer with chronic pelvic pain and infertility, and from the lack of pharmacologic therapies that consistently halt disease progression. Differences in the endometrium of patients with endometriosis vs. unaffected controls are well-documented. Specifically, shed endometrial tissues (delivered to the pelvic cavity via retrograde menstruation) reveal that a subset of stromal cells exhibiting pro-inflammatory, pro-fibrotic, and pro-senescence-like phenotypes is enhanced in endometriosis patients compared to controls. Additionally, cultured biopsy-derived endometrial stromal cells from endometriosis patients exhibit impaired decidualization, a defined differentiation process required for human embryo implantation and pregnancy. Quercetin, a senolytic agent, shows therapeutic potential for pulmonary fibrosis, a disorder attributed to senescent pulmonary fibroblasts. In rodent models of endometriosis, quercetin shows promise, and quercetin improves decidualization in vitro. However, the exact mechanisms are not completely understood. Therefore, we investigated the effects of quercetin on menstrual effluent-derived endometrial stromal cells from endometriosis patients and unaffected controls to define the signaling pathways underlying quercetin’s effects on endometrial stromal cells. Menstrual effluent-derived endometrial stromal cells were collected and cultured from unaffected controls and endometriosis patients and then, low passage cells were…

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