Fig. 1

Preparation of endometrial epithelial cells and stromal cells from endometrial specimens. a, b Microscopic appearance of endometrial epithelial cells in primary culture. Low magnification (a) and high magnification (b). Black bar is 500 μm. c, d Microscopic appearance of endometrial stromal cells. Epithelial components were mixed in primary culture (c); however, these disappeared with serial passage (d). Black bar is 500 μm. e–g Hematoxylin and eosin staining for endometrial tissue (e), cultured endometrial epithelial cells (f), and stromal cells (g). Black bar is 100 μm. h Immunohistochemical staining for endometrial stromal cells in serial culture. Endometrial tissue was used as a control. Endometrial stromal cells were positive for ERɑ, PR, CD10, and CD13 like endometrial tissue. Nuclei were stained with DAPI. Yellow bar is 500 μm. Epithelial component of endometrial tissue was positive for ERɑ and PR, negative for CD10, and weakly positive for CD13. i–l Decidualization of endometrial stromal cells. Microscopic appearance of endometrial stromal cells cultured in the control medium (i) and supplemented with estrogen, progesterone, and cAMP (j) (see Experimental procedure). Black bar is 500 μm. The PRL (k) and IGFBP-1 (l) genes were significantly upregulated after decidualization (P = 0.0017 and 0.0033, respectively). Expression of the genes in the controls is designated as 1.0. Error bar indicates SEM. Each experiment was done in triplicate. Abbreviation: ER, estrogen receptor; PR, progesterone receptor; DAPI, 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole; cAMP, cyclic adenosine monophosphate; PRL, prolactin; IGFBP-1, insulin-like growth factor binding protein-1; SEM, standard error of the mean