In‑vitro models of human endometriosis (Review)

Abstract

Endometriosis is one of the most common benign gynecological diseases in women of reproductive age worldwide. In past decades, a number of in-vitro models have been used to investigate the pathology and therapeutic methods for the treatment of endometriosis. The current review summarized the majority of currently available in-vitro models, which utilize a variety of cell or tissues types, including endometriotic cell lines, primary endometrial stromal cells, endometrial stem cells, endometrial explants, peritoneal explants and immune cells. These cells or tissues are cultured individually, co-cultured in 2D or 3D systems with various matrices or cultured in chicken chorioallantotic membranes and amniotic membranes culture systems. These models are able to represent one or more aspects of the process of endometriosis. These models are helpful and can be used to investigate the development of endometriosis and the underlying mechanisms of this disorder in detail, and help investigators select appropriate models for their experiments. Recently, the new concept of endometriosis as a fibrotic condition will lead research to investigate the differentiation of myofibroblasts and the development of fibrosis in endometriotic lesions, which will increase the development of novel models that can be used to investigate endometriotic fibrosis. Contents 1. Introduction 2. In-vitro models 3. Discussion In-vitro models of human endometriosis (Review)

Three-Dimensional Biofabrication Models of Endometriosis and the Endometriotic Microenvironment

“…Endometriosis research is hindered by the scarcity of representative endometriotic in vitro models [16][17][18][19]. Our study shows that large spheroids generated from 12Z cells represent human endometriosis characteristics and that complex 3D tissue-like constructs can be successfully biofabricated to model endometriosis and the endometriotic microenvironment.…”

“…Despite a large number of ovarian cancer cell lines, there are few benign gynecological cell lines modeling diseases such as endometriosis, and even fewer epithelial-like endometriotic cell lines [16][17][18][19]. Therefore, we chose to focus on a commercially available immortalized endometriotic epitheliallike cell line, 12Z, as the epithelial cell for these proof-of-concept models.…”

“…The scarcity of representative endometriotic in vitro models hinders research within the endometriosis field [16][17][18][19]. Immortalized stromal cell lines have been developed from endometrial tissue from women with endometriosis or endometriotic lesions [20,21].…”

“…Immortalized stromal cell lines have been developed from endometrial tissue from women with endometriosis or endometriotic lesions [20,21]. However, few immortalized epithelial endometriotic cell lines exist, with 12Z cells being the most studied [16,21,22]. While traditional monolayer culture has set the groundwork for many advancements, limitations are seen in its inability to recapitulate therapeutic outcomes in vivo [23].…”

Three-Dimensional Biofabrication Models of Endometriosis and the Endometriotic Microenvironment

“…The scarcity of representative endometriotic in vitro models hinders research within the endometriosis field [ 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ]. Immortalized stromal cell lines have been developed from endometrial tissue from women with endometriosis or endometriotic lesions [ 20 , 21 ].…”