Journal article

Differences in the cellular composition of small versus large uterine fibroids

Sarah J Holdsworth-Carson, Dong Zhao, Leonie Cann, Sophie Bittinger, Cameron J Nowell, Peter AW Rogers

REPRODUCTION | BIOSCIENTIFICA LTD | Published : 2016

Abstract

Uterine fibroids are clonally derived from a single cell; however, despite being monoclonal, the cellular phenotypes that make up uterine fibroids are heterogeneous consisting of predominantly smooth muscle cells (SMC) and fibroblasts. This raises the question as to when clonal cell differentiation occurs during fibroid development, and does this information provide clues about possible mechanisms regulating the growth process that leads to fibroids of symptom-causing size? This study investigated the differences in the cellular composition of fibroids by immunohistochemistry (IHC). A tissue microarray (n = 21 hysterectomy cases) was used for the investigation of large uterine fibroids and n..

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Grants

Awarded by National Health and Medical Research Council


Awarded by National Natural Science Foundation of China


Funding Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council (606613 to P A W R) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC81471436 to D Z). S J H-C is supported by the J.N Peters Bequest Fellowship (University of Melbourne).