Collaborative Center to Develop Improved Diagnostic and Therapeutic Approaches to Endometriosis

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Collaborative Center to Develop Improved Diagnostic and Therapeutic Approaches to Endometriosis ABSTRACT The overarching goal of this Center is to develop advanced tools and insights for improved understanding of the pathophysiology of endometriosis, a disease in which endometrial tissue grows outside the uterus and can cause severe dysmenorrhea, pain, infertility and other sequelae. We pursue this goal to enhance the diagnosis, assessment, and treatment of women suffering from this common and devastating disease. A clear pathophysiologic understanding of endometriosis has been difficult to achieve due, in part, to the reliance on surgery for diagnosis and lesion assessment. Reliance on surgery delays diagnosis and prevents frequent or repeated evaluation. In recent years, however, collaborations between scientists in our team have advanced a unifying pathophysiological principle--that of progesterone resistance. Most other pathophysiological features of endometriosis, including persistent epithelial estrogen receptor action, persistent estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor expression, cellular proliferation, inflammation, pain, and infertility, can be ascribed to progesterone resistance. Recently, important findings by this consortium show that Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1), an epigenetic modulator, can cause progesterone resistance, resulting in exacerbation of downstream effects. SIRT1 is a histone deacetylase that also directly regulates the function of proteins directing inflammatory and metabolic signaling. We find consistent overexpression of endometrial SIRT1 across all species that we have tested, including humans, non-human primates, and mice, highlighting a likely central role for SIRT1 in endometriosis pathophysiology. Furthermore, preliminary studies indicate that SIRT1 overexpression plays a direct role in lesion survival as well as infertility and has a potential role as a therapeutic target. We present three key projects based on our burgeoning pathophysiological data to deepen our knowledge, catalyze the development of novel, non-invasive diagnostic and assessment methods and promote non-hormonal therapeutic options for affected women. The impact of these three projects on women will be enhanced by patient and provider educational initiatives from the Endometriosis Outreach and Education (EOE) Core and deep integration of synergistic data from human, non-human primate, mouse, and in vitro systems, enhanced by the Comparative Genomics and Bioinformatics (CGB) Core. Collectively, the projects and cores contribute to three synergistic aims: 1) Enhance early diagnosis and assessment of endometriosis lesions by developing non-invasive imaging techniques and promoting public awareness; 2) Determine inflammatory and metabolic changes that underlie the disease process; and 3) Develop new molecular targets for non-hormonal, non-surgical treatments for endometriosis; The successful completion of these aims will lead to a long-lasting improvement in the lives of women suffering from endometriosis.