Homeostatic to reactive hyaluronan matrices in ovarian reproductive aging

项目总结 衰老是一种普遍现象，是慢性疾病以及组织和细胞退化的基础。女性 生殖系统是人类最早衰老的系统，其功能丧失比其他器官早几十年。 生殖衰老既与卵巢内卵子数量的减少有关，也与卵巢内卵子数量的减少有关 她们的素质共同导致流产、不孕和出生缺陷的发生率增加。 我们的长期目标是减轻女性生殖老化的负面影响，这些负面影响包括 随着全球女性推迟生育，这一现象变得越来越普遍。生殖过渡，例如 生殖老龄化是国家卫生研究院生育和不孕部的一个优先事项，因此 我们的工作与尤尼斯·肯尼迪·施莱弗国家儿童健康研究所的使命紧密相连 人类发展。尽管有相当多的研究集中在卵子与年龄相关的变化上， 相应地，人们对卵巢间质，卵子发育的微环境， 随年龄变化，并影响鸡蛋的质量。在卵巢中发现的一种关键基质分子是透明质酸。 透明质酸在发炎的组织中合成和碎裂，并提供加剧 炎症并导致几个器官的纤维化。透明质酸的变化也与衰老的组织有关。 在这里，我们将检验最重要的假设，即卵巢透明质酸水平随着年龄的增长而下降 相应地，现有HA裂解成小分子群体的增加对 卵巢纤维化和炎症的发病机制，影响卵子质量。这一假设将在#年进行检验。 三个具体目标。首先，我们将研究透明质酸的含量、碎片和功能在 卵巢具有较高的生殖年龄。这些研究将使用年轻的和有生殖能力的 并将包括对卵巢生物力学特性的分析以及对 透明质酸碎裂对卵泡发育的影响。第二，我们将调查在多大程度上 体内透明质酸表达紊乱可导致卵巢间质炎症和纤维化。至 为了实现这一目标，我们将评估小鼠的炎症和纤维化指标 在药理上缺乏透明质酸，这与生育有关。第三，我们将确定人类如何 使用人体材料，卵巢和卵泡液透明质酸水平和碎裂曲线随年龄变化 由西北大学的两个成熟的研究库提供。我们将对临床进行调查 我们通过将透明质酸水平和碎片化特征与生殖衰老相关联的研究结果的相关性 辅助生殖技术后的标志物和妊娠结局。前提是卵巢 基质对生殖衰老的贡献是一个新的研究前沿。完成研究 本提案中概述的内容可能揭示与透明质酸相关的新的治疗靶点或干预点 旨在提高生育率。

PROJECT SUMMARY Aging is universal and underlies chronic disease as well as tissue and cellular deterioration. The female reproductive system is the first to age in humans, with functional loss occurring decades prior to other organs. Reproductive aging is associated with both a decline in the number of eggs within the ovary and a decrease in their quality, which together, contribute to increased incidences of miscarriages, infertility, and birth defects. Our long-term objective is to attenuate the negative consequences of female reproductive aging, which are becoming more prevalent as women globally are delaying childbearing. Reproductive transitions, such as reproductive aging, is a priority of the Fertility and Infertility branch of the National Institutes of Health, and thus our work is tightly aligned with the mission of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Although considerable research has focused on age-associated changes in the egg, correspondingly less is known about how the ovarian stroma, the microenvironment in which the egg develops, changes with age and influences egg quality. A key stromal molecule found in the ovaries is hyaluronan. Hyaluronan is synthesized and fragmented in inflamed tissues and provides signals that exacerbate inflammation and drive fibrosis in several organs. Changes in hyaluronan are also implicated in aging tissues. Here, we will test the overarching hypothesis that ovarian hyaluronan levels decrease with age along with a corresponding increase in fragmentation of existing HA into a population of small molecules central to the pathogenesis of ovarian fibrosis and inflammation, which impacts egg quality. This hypothesis will be tested in three specific aims. First, we will examine how hyaluronan content, fragmentation, and function change in the ovary with advanced reproductive age. These studies will be performed using reproductively young and reproductively old mice and will include analysis of ovarian biomechanical properties and the impact of hyaluronan fragmentation on ovarian follicle development. Second, we will investigate the extent to which perturbation of hyaluronan expression in vivo induces ovarian stromal inflammation and fibrosis. To accomplish this goal, we will evaluate indices of inflammation and fibrosis in mice genetically or pharmacologically deficient in hyaluronan and correlate this with fertility. Third, we will determine how human ovarian and follicular fluid hyaluronan levels and fragmentation profiles change with age using human material provided by two established research repositories at Northwestern University. We will investigate the clinical relevance of our findings by correlating hyaluronan levels and fragmentation profiles with reproductive aging markers and pregnancy outcomes after assisted reproductive technologies. The premise that the ovarian stroma contributes to reproductive aging represents a novel research frontier. Completion of the studies outlined in this proposal may reveal novel hyaluronan-related therapeutic targets or points of intervention aimed at improving fertility.