Desmosomes in Uterine Epithelial Cells Decrease at the Time of Implantation: an Ultrastructural and Morphometric Study

Displacement of uterine epithelial cells is an important aspect of implantation in the rat and other species, allowing invasion of the blastocyst into the endometrial stroma. Desmosomes, which are part of the lateral junctional complex, function in cell-to-cell adhesion, and are therefore likely to be involved in displacement of uterine epithelial cells at the time of implantation. This study used transmission electron microscopy to study rat uterine epithelial cells during the peri-implantation period to investigate the change in the number of structural desmosomes along the lateral plasma membrane of uterine epithelial cells. We found a significant decrease in the number of desmosomes along the entire lateral plasma membrane as pregnancy progressed. Furthermore, there were also significant decreases in the number of desmosomes on the apical portion of the lateral plasma membrane between all days of pregnancy examined. In addition, on day 6 of pregnancy, the time of attachment, desmosomes were larger and seen as "giant desmosomes." For the first time, this study has shown that there is a significant reduction in cell height and actual number of ultrastructurally observable desmosomes at the time of implantation in the rat. It is proposed that this reduction in desmosome number leads to a decrease in lateral adhesion between uterine epithelial cells at the time of implantation, and hence is involved in the loss of uterine epithelial cells to facilitate blastocyst invasion.