Figure 2

Example of gene-protein-cellular morphology modalities for the myometrial physiome. Investigation of the role of even one gene of the uterus – caveolin-1 in this case – crosses such modalities. (i) Caveolae – sarcolemmal invaginations identifiable by electron microscopy (red arrows) are thought to orchestrate uterine intracellular signalling dynamics. (ii) Caveolin-1 protein is an integral structural and regulatory component of caveolae. Consistent with this, caveolin-1 (green) is localised by immunofluorescent confocal microscopy primarily to the plasma membrane. (iii) and (iv) Caveolin-1 protein or mRNA expression is invariant between myometrium of non-pregnant (NP) and pregnant not in labour (PNL) women.