ESTRONE SULFATE SULFATASE ACTIVITY IS INCREASED DURING INVITRO DECIDUALIZATION OF STROMAL CELLS FROM HUMAN ENDOMETRIUM

Arylsulfatase (EC 3.1.6.1) activity in human stromal cells isolated from specimens of histologically normal proliferative endometrium was increased several-fold during culture for 8–15 days in RPMI-1640 medium plus 10% charcoaltreated fetal bovine serum in the presence of a mixture of ovarian hormones (36 nM estradiol, 1 μM medroxyprogesterone acetate, and 100 μg/mL relaxin). The changes in sulfatase activity, determined by measuring the rate of formation of estrone from tritiated estrone sulfate, were associated with in vitro decidualization of the stromal cells, as determined by changes in secretion of PRL into daily renewed culture medium. PRL output by the cells during the last 24 h in culture and sulfatase activity in the cells collected at the end of the culture period were related to their DNA and protein contents. Sulfatase activity in the cells cultured in the presence of the ovarian hormones was comparable to the activity found in decidual cells at term pregnancy. PRL added for 1 day to cultures of stromal cells in the absence of exogenous hormones increased sulfatase activity in the cells, probably by acting in an autocrine manner, as previously demonstrated with human decidual cells during pregnancy. These experiments also revealed a hormonal regulation of stromal cell proliferation in vitro, as estimated from measurements of both DNA and protein levels per dish. Augmentation of sulfatase activity can serve as another marker of in vitro decidualization. Physiologically, an increase in this enzymatic activity may result in a preferential estrogenic stimulation of the decidualized cells by utilization of a circulating substrate, estrone sulfate. This hypothesis could explain the preferential retention of progesterone receptors in decidual cells observed immunohistochemically during the late luteal phase of the menstrual cycle, suggestive of a shift in progestogenic actions from the epithelium to the stroma. © 1990 by The Endocrine Society.