Throughout most of pregnancy, uterine quiescence is maintained by increased progesterone receptor (PR) transcriptional activity, whereas spontaneous labor is initiated/facilitated by a concerted series of biochemical events that activate inflammatory pathways and have a negative impact on PR function. In this study, we uncovered a previously undescribed regulatory pathway whereby micro-RNAs (miRNAs) serve as hormonally modulated and conserved mediators of contraction-associated genes in the pregnant uterus in the mouse and human. Using miRNA and gene expression microarray analyses of uterine tissues, we identified a conserved family of miRNAs, the miR-200 family, that is highly induced at term in both mice and humans as well as two coordinately downregulated targets, zinc finger E-box binding homeobox proteins ZEB1 and ZEB2, which act as transcriptional repressors. We also observed up-regulation of the miR-200 family and down-regulation of ZEB1 and ZEB2 in two different mouse models of preterm labor. We further demonstrated that ZEB1 is directly up-regulated by the action of progesterone (P 4 )/PR at the ZEB1 promoter. Excitingly, we observed that ZEB1 and ZEB2 inhibit expression of the contractionassociated genes, oxytocin receptor and connexin-43, and block oxytocin-induced contractility in human myometrial cells. Together, these findings implicate the miR-200 family and their targets, ZEB1 and ZEB2, as unique P 4 /PR-mediated regulators of uterine quiescence and contractility during pregnancy and labor and shed light on the molecular mechanisms involved in preterm birth.A lthough premature labor is the leading cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality in developed countries, the signaling mechanisms that maintain uterine quiescence during pregnancy and promote increased uterine contractility leading to labor at term and preterm remain incompletely defined (1). In mammalian pregnancy, uterine quiescence is maintained by elevated circulating progesterone (P 4 ) acting via the progesterone receptor (PR). Conversely, parturition is associated with a decline in maternal circulating P 4 and/or a decrease in the function of the PR, termed "functional P 4 withdrawal," (2, 3) and an increased inflammatory response within the uterus and cervix (4). Studies from a number of laboratories, including our own, suggest that P 4 and PR maintain uterine quiescence until term by inhibiting expression of contraction-associated genes [e.g., connexin-43 (CXN-43), oxytocin receptor (OXTR), cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2)] in the myometrium, in part, via anti-inflammatory actions. For example, P 4 and PR inhibit activation of COX-2 expression in myometrial cells through direct interaction of PR with NF-κB p65 (5) and by P 4 -induced expression of the NF-κB inhibitor, IκB-α (6).Recently, it has been shown that micro-RNAs (miRNAs) play especially powerful roles in vascular smooth muscle cells and in female reproduction, wherein they have been implicated in proliferation, differentiation, and hormone responsiveness (7-9). The identification o...

Chronic morphine administration (via subcutaneous pellet) decreases the size of dopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA), a key reward region in the brain, yet the molecular basis and functional consequences of this effect are unknown. In this study, we used viral-mediated gene transfer in rat to show that chronic morphine-induced downregulation of the insulin receptor substrate 2 (IRS2)-thymoma viral proto-oncogene (Akt) signaling pathway in the VTA mediates the decrease in dopamine cell size seen after morphine exposure and that this downregulation diminishes morphine reward, as measured by conditioned place preference. We further show that the reduction in size of VTA dopamine neurons persists up to 2 weeks after morphine withdrawal, which parallels the tolerance to morphine's rewarding effects caused by previous chronic morphine exposure. These findings directly implicate the IRS2-Akt signaling pathway as a critical regulator of dopamine cell morphology and opiate reward.

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During pregnancy, uterine quiescence is maintained by increased progesterone receptor (PR) activity, but labor is facilitated by a series of events that impair PR function. Previously, we discovered that miR-200 family members serve as progesterone (P 4 )-modulated activators of contraction-associated genes in the pregnant uterus. In this study, we identified a unique role for miR-200a to enhance the local metabolism of P 4 in myometrium and, thus, decrease PR function during the progression toward labor. miR-200a exerts this action by direct repression of STAT5b, a transcriptional repressor of the P 4 -metabolizing enzyme 20α-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (20α-HSD). We observed that miR-200a expression increased and STAT5b expression coordinately decreased in myometrium of mice as they progressed to labor and in laboring myometrium from pregnant women. These changes were associated with a dramatic increase in expression and activity of 20α-HSD in laboring myometrium from mouse and human. Notably, overexpression of miR-200a in cultured human myometrial cells (hTERT-HM) suppressed STAT5b and increased 20α-HSD mRNA levels. In uterine tissues of ovariectomized mice injected with P 4 , miR-200 expression was significantly decreased, STAT5b expression was up-regulated, and 20α-HSD mRNA was decreased, but in 15 d postcoitum pregnant mice injected with the PR antagonist RU486, preterm labor was associated with increased miR-200a, decreased STAT5b, and enhanced 20α-HSD expression. Taken together, these findings implicate miR-200a as an important regulator of increased local P 4 metabolism in the pregnant uterus near term and provide insight into the importance of miR-200s in the decline in PR function leading to labor.

Progesterone (P(4)) and estradiol-17β (E(2)) play critical and opposing roles in regulating myometrial quiescence and contractility during pregnancy and labor. Although these contrasting hormonal effects are likely mediated via differential regulation of inflammatory and contractile genes, the underlying mechanisms remain incompletely understood. Recently we discovered that targets of the microRNA (miR)-200 family, transcription factors zinc finger E-box binding homeobox (ZEB)-1 and ZEB2, serve as P(4)/progesterone receptor-mediated regulators of uterine quiescence during pregnancy. In the present study, we found that levels of the clustered miRNAs, miR-199a-3p and miR-214, were significantly decreased in laboring myometrium of pregnant mice and humans and in an inflammatory mouse model of preterm labor, whereas the miR-199a-3p/miR-214 target, cyclooxygenase-2, a critical enzyme in synthesis of proinflammatory prostaglandins, was coordinately increased. Overexpression of miR-199a-3p and miR-214 in cultured human myometrial cells inhibited cyclooxygenase-2 protein and blocked TNF-α-induced myometrial cell contractility, suggesting their physiological relevance. Notably, E(2) treatment of ovariectomized mice suppressed, whereas P(4) enhanced uterine miR-199a-3p/214 expression. Intriguingly, these opposing hormonal effects were mediated by ZEB1, which is induced by P(4), inhibited by E(2) and activates miR199a/214 transcription. Together, these findings identify miR-199a-3p/miR-214 as important regulators of myometrial contractility and provide new insight into strategies to prevent preterm birth.

The molecular mechanisms that maintain quiescence of the myometrium throughout most of pregnancy and promote its transformation to a highly coordinated contractile unit culminating in labor are complex and intertwined. During pregnancy, progesterone (P 4 ) produced by the placenta and/or ovary serves a dominant role in maintaining myometrial quiescence by blocking proinflammatory response pathways and expression of so-called "contractile" genes. In the majority of placental mammals, increased uterine contractility near term is heralded by an increase in circulating estradiol-17b (E 2 ) and/or increased estrogen receptor a (ERa) activity and a sharp decline in circulating P 4 levels. However, in women, circulating levels of P 4 and progesterone receptors (PR) in myometrium remain elevated throughout pregnancy and into labor. This has led to the concept that increased uterine contractility leading to term and preterm labor is mediated, in part, by a decline in PR function. The biochemical mechanisms for this decrease in PR function are also multifaceted and interwoven. In this paper, we focus on the molecular mechanisms that mediate myometrial quiescence and contractility and their regulation by the two central hormones of pregnancy, P 4 and estradiol-17b. The integrative roles of microRNAs also are considered.

The maintenance of myometrial quiescence and initiation of contractility, which lead to parturition at term and preterm, involve a shifting equilibrium between anti-inflammatory and proinflammatory signalling pathways. Progesterone (P4), acting through the progesterone receptor (PR), has an essential and multifaceted role in the maintenance of myometrial quiescence. This effect of P4-PR signalling is mediated, in part, by its anti-inflammatory actions and capacity to repress the expression of genes that encode proinflammatory cytokines, such as IL-1 and IL-6, and contraction-associated proteins, such as OXTR, GJA1 and PTGS2. By contrast, increased expression of genes that ultimately lead to parturition is mediated by enhanced inflammatory and estradiol-17β (E2) and estrogen receptor α signalling, which reduce PR function, thus further intensifying the inflammatory response. To obtain a more complete understanding of the molecular events that underlie the transition of the pregnant myometrium from a refractory to a contractile state, the roles of microRNAs, their targets, and their transcriptional and hormonal regulation have been investigated. This article reviews the actions of the miR-200 family and their P4-regulated targets-the transcription factors ZEB1, ZEB2 and STAT5B-in the pregnant myometrium, as well as the role of miR-199a-3p and miR-214 and their mutual target PTGS2. The central role of ZEB1 as the mediator of the opposing actions of P4 and E2 on myometrial contractility will be highlighted.

TRPM6 and TRPM7 are members of the melastatin-related transient receptor potential (TRPM) subfamily of ion channels. Deletion of either gene in mice is embryonically lethal. TRPM6/7 are the only known examples of single polypeptides containing both an ion channel pore and a serine/threonine kinase (chanzyme). Here we show that the C-terminal kinase domain of TRPM6 is cleaved from the channel domain in a cell type-specific fashion and is active. Cleavage requires that the channel conductance is functional. The cleaved kinase translocates to the nucleus, where it is strictly localized and phosphorylates specific histone serine and threonine (S/T) residues. TRPM6-cleaved kinases (M6CKs) bind subunits of the protein arginine methyltransferase 5 (PRMT5) molecular complex that make important epigenetic modifications by methylating histone arginine residues. Histone phosphorylation by M6CK results in a dramatic decrease in methylation of arginines adjacent to M6CK-phosphorylated amino acids. Knockout of TRPM6 or inactivation of its kinase results in global changes in histone S/T phosphorylation and changes the transcription of hundreds of genes. We hypothesize that M6CK associates with the PRMT5 molecular complex in the nucleus, directing M6CK to a specific genomic location and providing site-specific histone phosphorylation. M6CK histone phosphorylation, in turn, regulates transcription by attenuating the effect of local arginine methylation.A mong the several hundred genes encoding cation channels, the melastatin-related transient receptor potential family members TRPM6 and TRPM7 are unique in also being serine/ threonine (S/T) kinases (1). The TRPM6 channel kinase was brought to greater attention when mutations in this chanzyme were found to be the cause of familial hypomagnesemia with secondary hypocalcemia (HSH; see ref. 2 for a recent review). Characterized by severe hypomagnesemia, infants with HSH suffer tetany and refractory seizures shortly after birth, resulting in permanent neurological damage or death if untreated. The mechanisms by which mutations in TRPM6 lead to HSH are unknown, although several studies stress the importance of TRPM6-mediated Mg 2+ conductance (3-5). Importantly, global TRPM6 disruption in mice is embryonic lethal (6, 7). Mice with loss of TRPM6 at intermediate developmental time points manifest a reduced life span and skeletal deformations, in addition to mild hypomagnesemia (5). These data indicate that, much like TRPM7 (8), TRPM6 may be critical for normal, developmental, tissue-specific regulation of gene activity.Recently, our laboratory uncovered a signaling pathway mediated by TRPM7, a channel sharing 52% homology with TRPM6, whereby the functional S/T kinase at the carboxyl terminus of TRPM7 is proteolytically cleaved from the channel domain, forming cleaved kinase fragments (M7CKs) that translocate to the nucleus (9). There, M7CKs bind components of chromatin-remodeling complexes to ultimately phosphorylate specific S/T residues of histones, regulate selected histone acetylatio...