Fig. 7: SERPINB2 mediates the inhibitory effect of PM exposure on the self-renewal, migration, and replicative senescence of endometrial stem cells in vitro.

Schematic representation showing the functions of SERPINB2 as a gene that regulates PM-induced effects in endometrial stem cells. Endometrial stem cells were transfected with shRNA targeting SERPINB2 and were treated with or without PM (25 μg/ml) for 72 h; subsequent changes in cell viability were measured by an MTT assay (a). The ability of SERPINB2 depletion to abolish the PM-induced inhibitory effects on the migratory capacity of endometrial stem cells was analyzed via a Transwell assay (b) and western blotting with anti-MMP-2 and anti-MMP-9 antibodies (c). The attenuating effects of SERPINB2 depletion on PM-induced replicative senescence were evaluated by measuring SA-β-Gal activity (d) and the expression levels of the senescence markers IL-6, p16, p18, and p21 (e). β-Actin was used as the internal control. The bar graphs show the average of three independent experiments. Significant differences are presented. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.005, and ***p < 0.001 (two-sample t-test).