Reproductive Endocrinology And Infertility Clinical*

由詹姆斯·西格斯领导的生殖内分泌学和不孕症小组调查了各种临床生殖疾病的潜在原因和治疗效果。这些研究是生殖内分泌学和不孕症临床培训计划的一个组成部分。目标是为临床科学家提供与生殖相关的基础和临床研究的专业知识基础。在过去的一年里，我们继续研究子宫肌瘤（也称为平滑肌瘤），这是一种子宫良性肿瘤，在非裔美国女性中比白人女性更普遍。在过去的一年中，我们发现肌瘤与瘢痕疙瘩具有相似的分子和结构特征，瘢痕疙瘩是一种以过度瘢痕形成为特征的皮肤病。这两种疾病的特点都是细胞外基质的过度积累。使用几种方法，我们观察到两种条件之间相似但不完全相同的特征。部分基于这些结果，我们计划与国家癌症研究所和国家环境健康科学研究所的研究人员合作，开展一项涉及肌瘤非手术治疗的研究。我们的基础研究与Paul Driggers博士合作，继续探索Brx原癌蛋白在改变雌激素介导的基因激活中的作用。在与Heiner Westphal博士的合作研究中，我们继续进行实验，旨在阐明涉及Brx和相关蛋白的细胞质信号通路在激素作用中的生理作用。由于不孕症影响了10%的美国想要孩子的夫妇，我们继续研究不孕症的治疗方法，努力优化治疗结果，并尽量减少与生育治疗相关的多胎。

The Unit on Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, led by James Segars, investigates underlying causes and effectiveness of treatment for a variety of clinical reproductive disorders. The studies are conducted as an integral facet of the clinical training program in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility. The objective is to provide clinician-scientists with a foundation of expertise in basic and clinical research related to reproduction. In the past year, we have continued our research on the disorder of uterine fibroids (also known as leiomyomata), a benign tumor of the womb that is more prevalent in African-American women compared to White women. In the past year, we have found that fibroids share similar molecular and structural features with keloids, a skin disease characterized by excessive scar formation. Both diseases are characterized by excess accumulation of extracellular matrix. Using several methods, we observed similar, but not identical features between the two conditions. Based in part on these results, we plan to initiate a study involving non-surgical treatment of fibroids in collaboration with investigators at the National Cancer Institute and the National Instititute of Environmental Health Sciences. Our basic research studies have continued to explore the role of the Brx protooncoprotein to alter estrogen-mediated gene activation in our collaboration with Dr. Paul Driggers. In a collaborative study with Dr. Heiner Westphal, we continue experiments aimed toward elucidation of the physiologic role of cytoplasmic signaling pathways involving Brx and related proteins in hormone action. As infertility affects 10% of U.S. couples attempting to have children, we continue to study therapies for infertility in an effort to optimize outcome of treatment and minimize multiple births associated with fertility treatment.