The Pathogenesis of Endometriosis: Are Endometrial Stem/Progenitor Cells Involved?

In: Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine · 2022 · pp. 193–216 · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-90111-0_9 · W4213235333
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AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06+body, 2026-06-06

This review explores the potential involvement of endometrial stem/progenitor cells in the pathogenesis of endometriosis by examining relevant cellular and molecular markers.

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This paper chapter reviews whether endometrial stem/progenitor cells contribute to endometriosis pathogenesis, drawing on evidence from studies showing stemness marker expression, genetic/epigenetic alterations, and molecular pathways linked to development and cancer-like features. It discusses candidate markers and pathways associated with pluripotency and tissue injury/repair, and also considers other proposed origins (including bone-marrow–derived cells) as part of broader mechanistic theories. A key limitation is that it is a narrative overview rather than an original experimental study, so causality and the exact contribution of stem/progenitor cells across disease stages and lesion types remain difficult to establish. This paper is centrally about endometriosis — it specifically examines whether endometrial stem/progenitor cells are involved in endometriosis pathogenesis.

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References

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Dr. Bayan Alsaid for assisting in designing Fig. 9.1. Author information Authors and Affiliations Corresponding author Editor information Editors and Affiliations Rights and permissions Copyright information © 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG About this chapter Cite this chapter Laganà, A.S., Naem, A. (2022). The Pathogenesis of Endometriosis: Are Endometrial Stem/Progenitor Cells Involved?. In: Virant-Klun, I. (eds) Stem Cells in Reproductive Tissues and Organs. Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, vol 70. Humana, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90111-0_9 Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-90111-0_9 Published: Publisher Name: Humana, Cham Print ISBN: 978-3-030-90110-3 Online ISBN: 978-3-030-90111-0 eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)

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