Autophagy is a major cellular catabolic pathway tightly associated with cell survival. The involvement of autophagy in the prolonged survival of blastocysts in the uterus is well established, and it was assumed that ovarian steroid hormones - progesterone (P4) and estrogens - have important roles in the regulation of autophagy. However, information is scarce regarding whether these hormones regulate autophagy in certain hormone-responsive cellular systems. In this study, we investigated the effects of estrogen and P4 on autophagic response in the uteri of pregnant mice and in ovariectomized (OVX) mice treated with hormones. During pregnancy, autophagic response is high on days 1 and 2 when the uterus shows an inflammatory response to mating, but it subsides around the time of implantation. Dexamethasone treatment to day 1 pregnant mice reduced autophagy in the uterus. In OVX mouse uteri, estrogen or P4 reduces autophagic response within 6 h. Glycogen content in OVX uteri was increased by 3-methyladenine treatment, suggesting that autophagy is involved in glycogen breakdown in the hormone-deprived uterus. The classical nuclear receptor antagonists, ICI 182 780 or mifepristone, lead to the recovery of the autophagic response in OVX uteri. The suppression of autophagy by 17β-estradiol is inversely correlated with the accumulation of phospho-mouse target of rapamycin, and rapamycin treatment is moderately effective in the upregulation of autophagic response in OVX mouse uteri. Collectively, this study establishes that the uterine autophagy is induced in hormone-derived environment and is suppressed by hormone treatment. Uterine autophagy may have multiple functions as a responsive mechanism to acute inflammation and as an energy provider by breaking down glycogen under hormone deprivation.
Keywords: autophagy; estrogen; progesterone; uterus.