Von Hippel-Lindau gene expression on the human fallopian tube epithelium during the menstrual cycle

Abstract

The Von Hippel-Lindau gene (VHL) is a tumor suppressor gene, which is widely expressed in kidney, lung, breast, ovary, and cervix. VHL gene mutations can induce VHL disease and tumorigenesis. However, whether this gene is expressed in the human fallopian tube has not been evaluated. The objectives of this study were to investigate whether the VHL gene is expressed in human fallopian tube, and to investigate its expression changes during the menstrual cycle. Twenty-seven patients undergoing abdominal hysterectomy with adnexectomy for benign uterine disease were enrolled in the study. Human fallopian tubes were divided into proliferative stage (n=14) and secretory stage (n=13) according to the stage of the menstrual cycle they were isolated from. The expression of the VHL gene and protein was studied by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), western blotting and immunohistochemistry, respectively. The results revealed positive expression of the VHL protein in the cytoplasm of ciliated cells of the human fallopian tube. The mRNA and protein expression of VHL in the fallopian tubes was higher in the proliferative compared to the secretory phase of the menstrual cycle, but this difference was not significant (P>0.05). Overall, this study presents data on the VHL mRNA and protein expression in the human fallopian tube, which may be relevant to the process of differentiation of ciliated and secretory cells.