Vagina: Cell biology

The vagina (meaning sheath in Latin) is an important part of the female reproductive tract or reproductive organs located in the pelvis. It is a thin-walled fibromuscular tube (approximately 8-10 cm in length) connecting the uterine cervix internally and the vestibule externally. A stratified, squamous and nonkeratinized epithelium is placed on a dense connective tissue that contains a vascular venous plexus, and act as an erectile tissue. In human and mice, during embryogenesis, the vagina develops from the Müllerian duct. The epithelium of the Müllerian vagina migrates towards the posterior, and then vaginal epithelial cell differentiation is stimulated by paracrine factors from the surrounding mesenchyme. 17Β-Estradiol and estrogen receptor a are also important for epithelial cell proliferation and squamous cell differentiation.