Isolation and function of human oogenesis genes regulating meiosis, recruitment, growth and maturation of the oocyte.

Funded Activity Summary

Reproductive medicine has progressed very rapidly with the development of in vitro fertilization (IVF) and has delivered the opportunity for a broad group of infertile couples to form their own families. As a consequence, treatment of infertility by major surgery and artificial insemination with donor sperm have declined and there is an increasing interest in the use of IVF to diagnose severe genetic disease in embryos of families at risk. However, little is known about the underlying processes that form the follicles containing the developing germ cells and the matured oocytes needed for IVF. The cohort of oocytes that can be harvested from any patient depends on unknown recruitment processes initiating development of a subset of the quiescent germ cells and happens in an unregulated and spontaneous manner. The present project will identify the known and unknown genes involved in recruitment of oocytes from the basal primordial population. These genes will become candidates for aiding infertile women, improving their response to fertility drugs, the development of novel contraceptive methods and potentially increasing the reproductive life span of women. Knowledge of the genes expressed in oocytes matured in vivo and in vitro will have an important bearing on the long-term opportunity to use fertility drugs in vitro instead of administration to patients for IVF. This would dramatically reduce the cost of IVF and the side-effects of hyperstimulation of ovaries of patients and the associated sequelae. The research project is a discovery program leading to the identification of the genes that govern oogenesis in the human. It is only recently that techniques have been developed to sufficient sensitivity to detect the small quantities of RNA proceeded by active genes in the individual germ cells and oocytes.

Funded Activity Details

Start Date: 01-01-2001

End Date: 01-01-2003

Funding Scheme: NHMRC Project Grants

Funding Amount: $211,527.00

Funder: National Health and Medical Research Council

Research Topics

ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)

Reproduction

ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)

There are no SEO codes available for this funding activity

Other Keywords

Assisted reproduction-infertility/early diagnosis of disease | Contraception. | Creation of human oogenesis cDNA libraries. | Effect of superovulation on oocyte gene expression. | Gamete storage- e.g., prior to radio- or chemo-therapy. | Human embryo development, embryo stem cells and cancer. | Identification and function of novel developmental genes. | Menopause - control of onset. | Oocyte maturation - gene expression in vivo and in vitro. | Stage specific gene expression patterns in human oogenesis.

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