Reproductive Endocrinology And Infertility Clinical*

生殖内分泌学和不孕不育科由James Segars领导，研究各种临床生殖疾病的根本原因和治疗效果。这些研究作为生殖内分泌学和不孕症临床培训计划的一个组成部分进行。目的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，我们继续对子宫肌瘤（也称为平滑肌瘤）的疾病进行研究，这是一种子宫良性肿瘤，与白色妇女相比，在非洲裔美国妇女中更为普遍。在过去的一年里，我们发现肌瘤与瘢痕疙瘩有着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。这两种疾病的特征在于细胞外基质的过度积累。使用几种方法，我们观察到类似的，但不完全相同的功能之间的两个条件。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非手术治疗肌瘤的研究。我们的基础研究继续探索Brx原癌蛋白在我们与Paul Driggers博士合作中改变雌激素介导的基因激活的作用。在与Heiner Westphal博士的合作研究中，我们继续进行旨在阐明涉及Brx和相关蛋白质在激素作用中的细胞质信号传导途径的生理作用的实验。由于不孕症影响了10%试图生育孩子的美国夫妇，我们继续研究不孕症的治疗方法，以优化治疗结果，并尽量减少与生育治疗相关的多胞胎。

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.