Reproduction Abstracts

Introduction: It is becoming clear that epigenetic modifications, such as DNA methylation, exhibit dynamic and reversible changes. Our understanding of a role for epigenetic modifications for timing biological rhythms is in its infancy. It has recently been found that DNA methylation in the hypothalamus plays a role in regulating the internal representation of seasonal timing. Here we tested the hypothesis that epigenetic modifications are also responsible for controlling repr...

Implantation failure remains a bottleneck in assisted reproduction treatments (ARTs), as only ~25% of treatment cycles result in a live birth. During the early stages of implantation, endocrine and embryonic paracrine signals prime the receptivity of the uterine luminal epithelium (LE) before the trophectoderm (TE) of the blastocyst-stage embryo can mediate attachment and subsequently invade the uterine epithelium and stroma. We have developed an in vitro model using ...

A Disintegrin and Metalloprotease Domain-containing protein 10 (ADAM10) is a cell surface protein with a unique structure possessing potential adhesion and protease domains. However, the role of ADAM10 is not known during early embryo development. In this study, we investigated the expression patterns and biological function of Adam10 in mouse preimplantation embryos. The transcription level of Adam10 increased from the two-cell stage onward. Immunostaining revealed t...

Introduction: Embryo implantation is a complex and highly regulated process. Toll-Like receptors (TLRs) play a strategic role in recognition of pathogens in female reproductive tract. Activation of TLRs in endometrial cells at the time of embryo implantation appears to have negative effect on implantation. Tribbles-2 (Trib2) protein is members of tribbles family of psuedokinase proteins, modulating TLR5 signal transduction pathway.Tribbles-2 knockout female mice are infertile....

The incidence of diabetes has increased in recent decades and by 2030, 366 million people worldwide will have the disease a significant proportion of these will be women of reproductive age. Diabetes is known to reduce fecundity and increase the likelihood of early pregnancy loss we propose that the high glucose levels seen in diabetes influence maternal fertility by impairing endometrial receptivity/function as a result of increased flux in the hexosamine biosynthetic pathway...

Introduction: Luteal phase deficiency following assisted reproductive technology (ART) programmes has led to progestogen supplementation. However, there is debate over which route of progestogen administration (intramuscular or vaginal) is most beneficial and whether additional treatment with oestrogen further improves pregnancy rates. Thus, a large-scale meta-analysis was performed to investigate the benefit of these luteal phase support treatments on pregnancy outcome in wom...