Decysin, a new member of the metalloproteinase family, is regulated by prolactin and steroids during mouse pregnancy.

More than 300 separated actions have been attributed to prolactin (PRL), which could be correlated to the quasi-ubiquitous distribution of its receptor. Null mutation of the PRL receptor (PRLR) gene leads to female sterility caused by a failure of embryo implantation. Using the PRLR knockout mouse model and the mRNA differential display method, among 45 isolated genes, we identified UA+4 as a PRL and steroids-target gene during the peri-implantation period that encodes the decysin. Hormonally regulated in the uterus during pregnancy, this new member of disintegrin metalloproteinase is present in the uterus at the site of blastocyst apposition in nondifferentiated stromal cells at the antimesometrial pole and, interestingly, is colocalized with the PRLR. At midpregnancy, decysin expression persists specifically at the foeto-maternal junction around vessels. Although it has been previously suggested that decysin expression is related to immune function, its function during pregnancy remains to be clearly established.