Glucose, glucose transporters and blastocyst formation in the mouse

以胚胎为基础的生物技术具有改善人类生殖健康的潜力，特别是在通过体外受精(IVF)治疗不孕不育方面。它们也是未来使用胚胎干细胞进行人体组织替换的核心。这个项目研究控制胚胎生长中最早的分化之一的分子机制。它将以小鼠为实验模型，研究胎盘和胎儿在早期胚胎中作为分离组织的变化中几个因素的重要性。一个关键的焦点是新受精胚胎的葡萄糖供应，以及这种葡萄糖供应对胚胎存活的重要性。此外，人们非常感兴趣的是，子宫内的代谢事件可能会促进以后生活中疾病的发展，特别是冠心病、中风、高血压和非胰岛素依赖型糖尿病。这些研究的结果将有助于我们理解为什么有些夫妇不育，并通过饮食和体外受精程序改善不孕症的管理。它还将有益于糖尿病女性寻求生育的饮食建议。从长远来看，将基因输送到小鼠早期胚胎的腺病毒策略也可能在治疗发育最早阶段的遗传缺陷方面得到广泛的临床应用，因此在动物和人类生殖管理方面都有巨大的潜在好处。

Embryo-based biotechnologies have the potential to improve human reproductive health, notably in treating infertility by In vitro fertilisation (IVF). They are also central to the future use of embryonic stem cells for human tissue replacement. This project investigates the molecular mechanisms controlling one of the earliest differentiations in the growth of the embryo. Using the mouse as an experimental model it will investigate the importance of several factors in the changes which set up the placenta and fetus as seperate tissues in the very early embryo. A key focus is the supply of glucose to the newly fertilised embryo and how important this glucose supply is for the survival of the embryo. Moreover there is great interest in the possibility that metabolic events in utero can contribute to the development of diseases in later life, notably, coronary heart diease, stroke, high blood pressure and non-insulin dependent diabetes. The results from these studies will contribute to our understanding of why some couples are infertile, lead to improved management of infertility by diet and invitro fertilisation procedures. It will also be of benefit in dietary advice to women with diabetes mellitus, seeking to have children. The adenoviral strategy for gene delivery into early mouse embryos may in the long term also find wide clinical application in the treatment of genetic defects at the very earliest stages in development and as such is of enormous potential benefit in the management of both animal and human reproduction.