Estrogen-dependent proteolytic cleavage of semaphorin 4D and plexin-B1 enhances semaphorin 4D-induced apoptosis during postnatal vaginal remodeling in pubescent mice.

ABSTRACT: Around the fifth week after birth, the vaginal cavity in female mouse pups opens to the overlaying skin. This postnatal tissue remodeling of the genital tract occurs during puberty, and it largely depends upon hormonally induced apoptosis that mainly occurs in the epithelium at the lower part of the mouse vaginal cavity. Previously, we showed that most BALB/c mice lacking the class IV Semaphorin (Sema4D) develop imperforate vagina and hydrometrocolpos; therefore, we reasoned that the absence of Sema4D-induced apoptosis in vaginal epithelial cells may cause the imperforate vagina. Sema4D signals via the Plexin-B1 receptor; nevertheless detailed mechanisms mediating this hormonally triggered apoptosis are not fully documented. To investigate the estrogen-dependent control of Sema4D signaling

SUBMITTER: Ito T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4026538 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature