Activation of α7-Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors Causes Secretion of Matrix Metalloproteinases-9 in the Human Endometrium

alpha 7-Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (alpha 7nAChR) have been discovered and studied in the human endometrium for the first time. The expression of these receptors at the level of mRNA has been shown in the endometrial tissue by polymerase chain reaction and at the protein level by Western blot. It has been found that the addition of carbachol, an agonist of acetylcholine receptors, or PHA 543613, a selective activator of alpha 7nAChR, to the primary culture of endometrial cells leads to regulated pulse secretion of matrix metalloproteinase-9.