Integrins and Other Cell Adhesion Molecules in Endometrium and Endometriosis

B A Lessey, Bruce Lessey, S L Young, Steven L. Young
Seminars in reproductive endocrinology · 1997 · vol. 15(03) , pp. 291–299 · doi:10.1055/s-2008-1068759 · PMID:9383838 · W1982278135
review OA: closed CC0 ⤵ 38 in-corpus citations
Full text JSON View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-08 ⓘ

This paper reviews the potential roles of cell adhesion molecules, particularly integrins, in endometrial function and the development and progression of endometriosis.

One-sentence paraphrase of the abstract; not a substitute for reading it. No clinical advice. How this works

⚙ AI-generated deep summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-09 · read from full text ⓘ

This review paper discusses cell adhesion molecules—organized into cadherins, selectins, immunoglobulin superfamily members, and integrins—in normal endometrium and in endometriosis, focusing on how shed endometrium could attach and spread in the pelvis via specific extracellular matrix receptors. It summarizes the rationale and emerging evidence that variations in these receptors and their ligands may help explain why endometriosis develops in some women but not others, and it highlights integrins as potential markers of a normal endometrial phenotype. A stated limitation is that the field’s understanding is still evolving, with the implications for diagnosis and treatment remaining conceptually based on accumulating data rather than definitive results. This paper is centrally about endometriosis — it reviews integrins and other adhesion molecules in endometrium and endometriosis to explain pathogenesis and possible diagnostic/biological markers.

Read from the paper's body, not the abstract. Not a substitute for reading the paper. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

Endometriosis is a disease that affects about 5% of women of reproductive age, but is found much more frequently in those with pelvic pain and/or infertility. In affected individuals, shed endometrium is thought to attach and spread within the pelvis through specific cell adhesion receptors. To understand why some women develop endometriosis while others do not, researchers have begun to examine these receptors and their extracellular matrix ligands. Cell adhesion molecules fall into 4 major groups including cadherins, selectins, members of the immunoglobulin superfamily, and integrins. Based on our current understanding, each may potentially play a role in the development or progression of this disease. In addition, the use of integrins as markers of the normal endometrial phenotype may be useful for the diagnosis of endometriosis and may identify women with defects in endometrial function leading to infertility or recurrent pregnancy loss. As more information becomes available, it may be possible to develop better treatments for endometriosis based on these concepts and to identify those women at risk for development of this common yet serious disorder.
Full text 1,457 characters · extracted from oa-doi-fallback · click to expand
Subscribe to RSS DOI: 10.1055/s-2008-1068759 Integrins and Other Cell Adhesion Molecules in Endometrium and Endometriosis Publication History Publication Date: 15 March 2008 (online) Abstract Endometriosis is a disease that affects about 5% of women of reproductive age, but is found much more frequently in those with pelvic pain and/or infertility. In affected individuals, shed endometrium is thought to attach and spread within the pelvis through specific cell adhesion receptors. To understand why some women develop endometriosis while others do not, researchers have begun to examine these receptors and their extracellular matrix ligands. Cell adhesion molecules fall into 4 major groups including cadherins, selectins, members of the immunoglobulin superfamily, and integrins. Based on our current understanding, each may potentially play a role in the development or progression of this disease. In addition, the use of integrins as markers of the normal endometrial phenotype may be useful for the diagnosis of endometriosis and may identify women with defects in endometrial function leading to infertility or recurrent pregnancy loss. As more information becomes available, it may be possible to develop better treatments for endometriosis based on these concepts and to identify those women at risk for development of this common yet serious disorder. Key Words: Cell adhesion molecules - integrins - endometriosis - endometrium - pathogenesis

Text is read by the "Ask this paper" AI Q&A widget below. Extraction quality varies by source — PMC NXML preserves structure cleanly, OA-HTML may include some navigation residue, and OA-PDF can have broken hyphenation. The publisher copy (via DOI) is the canonical version.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

⚙ Ask this paper AI returns verbatim quotes from the full text · source: oa-doi-fallback ⓘ

Answers must be backed by verbatim quotes from this paper's full text. Hallucinated quotes are dropped automatically; if no verbatim passage answers the question, we say so. How this works

Condition tags

mesh:D004715endometriosisinfertility

MeSH descriptors

Cell Adhesion Molecules Endometriosis Endometrium Integrins Biomarkers Cadherins Cadherins Cell Adhesion Molecules Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometrium Endometrium Extracellular Matrix Extracellular Matrix Female Humans Immunoglobulins Immunoglobulins Infertility

Citation neighborhood (2-hop)

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. Outer rings show 2-hop neighbours — papers reached through the immediate citers/citees. [ collapse to 1-hop ]

Cited by (38)

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-06-04T01:30:01.192114+00:00
openalex
last seen: 2026-06-04T00:00:01.174412+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-05-13T22:10:52.568893+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK