| Today's Date: Friday, November 21, 2008 |
| $1.6 Million Funds Reproductive Research Of Zygote Maturation |
| Thursday, August 07, 2008 |
|
Northwestern University received a $1.6 million grant form the W.M. Keck Foundation to better understand the reproductive process of the maturing zygote. Researchers will study the role of inorganic molecules during the chemical and biological signaling events at the time of fertilization and initial embryonic development. Zinc, calcium, iron and other molecules are thought to be the underlying mechanics controlling cell division and differentiation of the zygote. The study will focus in on the signaling networks between the molecules. “This research is focused on an unexplored area of egg and sperm biology, namely, the relationship of physiologically relevant metals to the events surrounding fertilization,” said Teresa Woodruff, Thomas J. Watkins Memorial Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Feinberg School of Medicine. “The involvement of inorganic molecules in this process has not been examined and the development of imaging technologies that are predicted to bring a new level of sensitivity and detection capability to this critical time in biology is exciting,” she said. Zinc's role in signal processing is of interest, researchers hypothesized “that fluxes in zinc ions mediate the first definitive signal in embryonic development.” Zinc is not associated with signaling, until graduate student Alison Kim's research discovered zinc was not uniformly distributed in eggs as they matured. That an unexpected outcome led Thomas O'Halloran, expert on how the body uses essential metals, inquiry into zinc's true role in zygote maturation. “Could zinc be a signal in the fertilization process? The evidence was strong enough for us to pursue. We first want to test whether there is a zinc signal pathway and then build a model of how zinc acts in the egg. This is very exciting because zinc's primary role in the boy is typically thought to involve catalysis, not signaling,” said O'Halloran, Charles E. and Emma H. Morrison Professor in Chemistry in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. The grant will be used to purchase a scanning transmission electron microscope with multiple detectors for quantitative images of the inorganic elements in the mouse germ cells. The cells will be tracked to measure the movement and flux using confocal microscopy. Fluorescent nanosensors will be created specifically for the custom-built microscope, said Northwestern. For more information, please visti: www.northwestern.edu. |
This site serves executives who are responsible for the management and administration of women's health programs. Our community includes hospital women's health managers, as well as directors and managers of women's health programs of government agencies, other healthcare organizations, health insurance plans, women's health organizations, colleges and universities and community-based organizations.
Click here to Contact Us
