Henriet, PatrickDupuis, CarolineCarolineDupuis2025-05-142025-05-142025-05-142020https://hdl.handle.net/2078.2/23664Endometriosis is a condition characterized by the presence of endometrial tissue outside the uterus. Its progression is hormone-dependent and, in many patients, can be slowed down by taking progesterone or progestin. However, some patients remain unresponsive to this treatment, despite adequate expression of the nuclear progesterone receptor, suggesting an alteration in another pathway. The PGRMC1 protein (progesterone receptor membrane component 1) is suspected of being able to mediate responses to progesterone independent of the nuclear receptor, by a mechanism which may depend on interactions between PGRMC1 and a related protein, PGRMC2. These two proteins are involved in pathologies affecting the ovary or the breast, in particular cancers, but their pathophysiological roles in the uterus are poorly understood. The host laboratory has been studying the expression, regulation, functions and mechanisms of action of PGRMC1 in the human endometrium and in endometriosis for several years. The goal of my thesis was to initiate a similar study focused on PGRMC2. My work has been divided into two parts. In the first, I used RT-qPCR, western blotting and immunofluorescence to identify the expression profile of PGRMC2 in healthy or pathological human endometrium. I have also used cell culture to test for possible regulation by ovarian steroids or levonorgestrel. My results show that PGRMC2 is expressed stably in the human endometrium during the menstrual cycle. Its expression is not altered in the endometrium of patients with endometriosis or adenomyosis. In short-time cell culture, ovarian steroids only increase PGRMC2 expression when combined with cAMP. Levonorgestrel does not influence the expression of PGRMC2. The PGRMC2 protein is mainly present in epithelial cells. A homogeneous distribution of PGRMC2 in the proliferative phase seems to give way to a gradient according to the depth of the tissue in the secretory phase. Finally, my thesis enabled the validation of a PGRMC2 siRNA which will be very useful in the host laboratory to investigate the functions and mechanisms of action of PGRMC2 in the endometrium. This siRNA was useful in showing that the attenuation of PGRMC2 expression, like that of PGRMC1, does not mimic the effects of an alleged inhibitor of PGRMC1, AG-205.EndométriosePGRMC2EndomètreProgestéroneoestrogènegynecologietext::thesis::master thesisthesis:30888