Multidisciplinary Program in Female and Male Reproduction

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The objective of the Specialized Cooperative Centers Program in Reproduction Research (SCCPRR) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine is to conduct innovative basic and clinical research on female and male reproductive biology and to apply the knowledge gained from these studies to improve understanding of the etiology and treatment of reproductive dysfunction and infertility in women and men. The thematic focus of this proposal is the role that estrogen plays in regulating maturation of primate fetal ovaries and testes during intrauterine development and vascular remodeling of the uterine endometrium during the menstrual cycle. In Project I (Gerald J. Pepe), the regulatory role of estrogen in utero in programming fetal ovarian follicular and oocyte development and the impact this has on fertility in adulthood will be assessed in the baboon. In Project II (Eugene D. Albrecht), the regulatory role of estrogen in utero in programming baboon fetal testicular and excurrent ductule/epididymal development and the impact this has on fertility in adulthood will be assessed. A combined clinical-basic research study is proposed in Project III (Robert D. Koos), to determine the role of estrogen and progesterone, acting via expression of angiostimulatory and angioinhibitory factors, on endometrial angiogenesis and vascular remodeling in vivo in baboons and in vitro in cocultures of human endometrial and vascular endothelial and mural cells. We will collaborate with experts in human and nonhuman primate reproductive biology at the University of Maryland SCCPRR, Eastern Virginia Medical School, the University of Pittsburgh SCCPRR, and the Johns Hopkins University SCCPRR. Each of the research projects will draw heavily upon the immunocytochemistry Core (Gloria E. Hoffman) for the cellular localization/expression of regulatory factors and receptors. Integration of the scientific effort in this SCCPRR will be achieved through the thematic focus on estrogen's role in developmental maturation of the reproductive system, use of the baboon as a nonhuman primate model, and an established tradition of collaborative research. The discoveries obtained in the baboon primate model are expected to translate to the human to advance knowledge of human reproductive biology.