Estrogen deficiency heterogeneously affects tissue specific stem cells in mice

Sci Rep. 2015 Aug 6:5:12861. doi: 10.1038/srep12861.

Abstract

Postmenopausal disorders are frequently observed in various organs, but their relationship with estrogen deficiency and mechanisms remain unclear. As tissue-specific stem cells have been found to express estrogen receptors, we examined the hypothesis that estrogen deficiency impairs stem cells, which consequently contributes to postmenopausal disorders. Six-week-old C57BL/6 female mice were ovariectomized, following which they received 17β-estradiol replacement or vehicle (control). Sham-operated mice were used as healthy controls. All mice were killed for evaluation 2 months after treatments. Compared with the healthy control, ovariectomy significantly decreased uterine weight, which was partially recovered by 17β-estradiol replacement. Ovariectomy significantly increased the numbers of c-kit-positive hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells in bone marrow, but impaired their capacity to grow mixed cell-type colonies in vitro. Estrogen replacement further increased the numbers of c-kit-positive hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells in bone marrow, without significantly affecting colony growth in vitro. The number of CD105-positive mesenchymal stem cells in bone marrow also significantly decreased after ovariectomy, but completely recovered following estrogen replacement. Otherwise, neither ovariectomy nor estrogen replacement changed the number of Pax7-positive satellite cells, which are a skeletal muscle-type stem cell. Estrogen deficiency heterogeneously affected tissue-specific stem cells, suggesting a likely and direct relationship with postmenopausal disorders.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antigens, Differentiation / metabolism
  • Estrogens / deficiency*
  • Female
  • Hematopoietic Stem Cells / metabolism*
  • Hematopoietic Stem Cells / pathology
  • Humans
  • Mesenchymal Stem Cells / metabolism*
  • Mesenchymal Stem Cells / pathology
  • Mice
  • Ovariectomy
  • Postmenopause / metabolism
  • Satellite Cells, Skeletal Muscle / metabolism*
  • Satellite Cells, Skeletal Muscle / pathology

Substances

  • Antigens, Differentiation
  • Estrogens