GENE EXPRESSION IN THE PRIMATE OVULATORY FOLLICLE

这个子项目是许多研究子项目中利用 资源由NIH/NCRR资助的中心拨款提供。子项目和 调查员(PI)可能从NIH的另一个来源获得了主要资金， 并因此可以在其他清晰的条目中表示。列出的机构是 该中心不一定是调查人员的机构。 在哺乳动物中，促性腺激素(特别是促黄体激素)在周期中期由脑下垂体分泌，在卵巢中启动一系列事件，导致成熟卵泡排卵(即卵泡壁破裂并释放其包裹的卵母细胞)，以及将卵泡壁转化为新的内分泌腺，即黄体。作为这一过程的一部分，促性腺激素激增作用于排卵前的卵泡，诱导卵丘-卵母细胞成熟，包括重新启动卵母细胞的减数分裂和周围卵丘细胞的扩张，从而产生可以在排卵时从卵泡中释放的受精卵。啮齿类动物的研究表明，前列腺素(PG)的合成和局部PGE2受体(通过PGER2而不是R1)的作用对包括卵丘-卵母细胞扩张在内的排卵事件和生育至关重要。在Stouffer实验室进行的研究表明，恒河猴排卵周围卵泡中参与PGE合成的酶以及PGER2的mRNA水平显著增加。因此，进一步的研究旨在评估PGE2拮抗剂与载体对照组相比：(1)改变自然月经周期期间猕猴的适时排卵和/或随后的黄体功能寿命，(2)阻止排卵周围卵泡中的卵丘-卵母细胞扩张。

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. In mammalian species, the midcycle surge of gonadotropin hormone (notably luteinizing hormone, LH) secreted by the pituitary gland, initiates a cascade of events in the ovary leading to ovulation of the mature follicle (i.e., rupture of the follicle wall and release of its enclosed oocyte), as well as conversion of the follicle wall into a new endocrine gland, the corpus luteum. As part of the process, the gonadotropin surge acts on the preovulatory follicle to elicit cumulus-oocyte maturation, including reinitiation of meiosis in the oocyte and expansion of the surrounding cumulus cells, thereby producing a fertilizable egg that can be released from the follicle at ovulation. Rodent studies suggest that prostaglandin (PG) synthesis and local PGE2-receptor (via PGER2 not R1) action is critical for periovulatory events, including cumulus-oocyte expansion, and fertility. Studies performed in the Stouffer laboratory demonstrated significant increases in mRNA levels for the enzymes involved in PGE synthesis, as well as PGER2, in the periovulatory follicle of rhesus macaques. Therefore, further studies were designed to evaluate whether a PGE2 antagonist, compared to vehicle control: (1) altered timely ovulation and/or the subsequent functional lifespan of the corpus luteum during the natural menstrual cycle, and (2) blocked cumulus-oocyte expansion in the periovulatory follicle, in rhesus monkeys.