Uterine glucocorticoid receptors are critical for fertility in mice through control of embryo implantation and decidualization.

ABSTRACT: In addition to the well-characterized role of the sex steroid receptors in fertility and reproduction, organs of the female reproductive tract are also regulated by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. These endocrine organs are sensitive to stress-mediated actions of glucocorticoids, and the mouse uterus contains high levels of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR). Although the presence of GR in the uterus is well established, uterine glucocorticoid signaling has been largely ignored in terms of its reproductive and/or immunomodulatory functions on fertility. To define the direct in vivo function of glucocorticoid signaling in adult uterine physiology, we generated a uterine-specific GR knockout (uterine GR KO) mouse using the PR(cre) mouse model. The uterine GR KO mice display a profound

SUBMITTER: Whirledge SD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4679013 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature