Compound Culture Media To Improve Human IVF Pregnancies
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$254,340.00
Summary
In Australia 1 in 6 couples require IVF to conceive. Although pregnancy rates have improved over the last 10 years the live birth rate in Australia per cycle is only 17%. This project will assess a new method for the culture of embryos for the ability to maintain embryo vitality and produce healthy babies.
Reappraisal Of The Mechanisms Underlying Implantation Success Or Failure
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$750,755.00
Summary
Infertility affects 1:6 Australian couples; these seek help. However, for each IVF cycle, there is only ~18.5% chance of a live birth, significantly due to failure of embryo implantation. We discovered nano-vesicles in the uterine cavity, that are released from the womb lining and taken up by the pre-implantation embryo to improve its implantation potential. We will determine how this extracellular environment can enhance implantation success and circumvent/management of infertility.
Developing An In Vitro Model Of A Human Blastocyst
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$890,062.00
Summary
Using novel cellular and molecular technologies we propose to develop an artificial model of an early human blastocyst. This will allow us to study the first initial steps in human development without the use of real embryos. Such a model will not only help us decipher the first steps in human development, but we anticipate it will be essential to study how gene mutations and the environment affect this initial step in human development.
I am a reproductive biologist, studying how the environment, both in vivo and in vitro, interacts with oocytes and early embryos in determining both their short and long-term development, with specific interests in application to clinical infertility treatment.
Metabolic And Molecular Determinants Of Embryo Viability
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$551,321.00
Summary
We know that our health as adults is influenced by the lifestyle of our mothers during pregnancy. In particular, increased risk of adult-onset diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease occurs when small and lean infants at birth are raised in conditions where nutrient intake is not restricted and obesity occurs. This concept of fetal programming is now widely accepted. Our laboratory is leading research in a new concept, that of embryonic programming. We have extensive animal data dem ....We know that our health as adults is influenced by the lifestyle of our mothers during pregnancy. In particular, increased risk of adult-onset diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease occurs when small and lean infants at birth are raised in conditions where nutrient intake is not restricted and obesity occurs. This concept of fetal programming is now widely accepted. Our laboratory is leading research in a new concept, that of embryonic programming. We have extensive animal data demonstrating that exposure of embryos to physiological perturbations alters fetal development, similarly to that occurring in nutrient restriction during pregnancy. Furthermore, there is data from IVF-derived children that their birth-weight is lower than expected, possibly due to the conditions used for conception in the laboratory. How does the response by eggs and embryos, at the time of conception, affect subsequent development? There has been some focus on changes to DNA that are not related to mutations, but structural changes in the DNA that alters gene expression. We call this epigenetics and epigenetic changes are found in embryos, including human embryos following IVF. However, no one knows how such epigenetic changes occur as a result of this stress response by the egg or embryo. Our proposal is to determine the mechanism of how epigenetic alterations take place in eggs and embryos. Our theory is that the mitochondria, the energy producing packages within all cells, are sending signals to the embryo's nucleus. When the egg or embryo finds itself in adverse conditions, the signals change as a result of changes in the energy balance. This in turn changes the activity of enzymes in the nucleus that regulates DNA structure. If we can prove that this relationship occurs, then we can assess these changes in human embryos that are excess to a patient's requirements and learn if programming takes place in human embryos.Read moreRead less
Re-energising The Preimplantation Embryo To Extend Lifetime Health
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,156,936.00
Summary
Diseases of aging are associated with shortening at the ends of chromosomes called telomeres. The length of an individual’s telomeres is established during embryo development, and in situations where embryo development is compromised such as with maternal obesity the normal process of telomere lengthening may not occur. We will determine how such disruptions in embryo telomere lengthening contribute to poor health in adulthood and test ways to restore the natural process.
Characterisation Of The Pathways Leading To DNA Demethylation In The Embryo.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$634,573.00
Summary
Complex living creatures like humans have specialised cells that co-operate to form important organs like brains and reproductive organs. Specialised cells have specific genes locked on or off. When a sperm fertilises an egg, all the switches of the genes that are locked on or off get reset to neutral so that the fertilised egg can divide and grow into all cell types in the body. We do not know how this resetting happens in the egg. This project seeks to discover the mechanism involved.