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Abstract In women, endometrial breakdown, which is experienced as menstruation, is characterised by high concentrations of inflammatory mediators and immune cells which account for ~40% of the stromal compartment during tissue shedding. These inflammatory cells are known to play a pivotal role in tissue breakdown but their contribution to the rapid scarless repair of endometrium remains poorly understood. In the current study we used a mouse model of menstruation to investigate dynamic changes in mononuclear phagocytes during endometrial repair and remodelling. Menstruation was simulated in MacGreen mice to allow visualisation of CSF1R + mononuclear phagocytes. Immunohistochemistry revealed dynamic spatio-temporal changes in numbers and location of CSF1R-EGFP + cells and Ly6G + neutrophils. Flow cytometry confirmed a striking increase in numbers of GFP + cells during repair (24 h): influxed cells were 66% F4/80 + Gr-1 + and 30% F4/80 − Gr-1 + . Immunostaining identified distinct populations of putative ‘classical’ monocytes (GFP + F4/80 − ), monocyte-derived macrophages (GFP + F4/80 + ) and a stable population of putative tissue-resident macrophages (GFP - F4/80 + ) localised to areas of breakdown, repair and remodelling respectively. Collectively, these data provide the first compelling evidence to support a role for different populations of monocytes/macrophages in endometrial repair and provide the platform for future studies on the role of these cells in scarless healing.
Cousins et al. (Wed,) studied this question.