Characterisation of mesenchymal stromal cells in the postmenopausal endometrium

Background: Recently MSC have been identified in the regenerative endometrial lining of the uterus and specific markers (W5C5/SUSD2) for their prospective isolation identified. Postmenopausal endometrium is atrophic but regenerates with systemic estrogen treatment and has even lead to a successful IVF pregnancy in a 64 year old woman. The aim of this study was to determine whether postmenopausal endometrium contains a population of endometrial MSC (eMSC) that might be responsible for its regenerative capacity which could be exploited for future clinical applications. We hypothesized that eMSC are present in post…