Endocrine control of fish reproduction

动物的生殖功能需要精确的激素控制。已发现转化生长因子-β（TGF-β）家族的成员在调节卵巢功能中发挥重要作用;然而，其确切的生理作用尚不完全清楚。我们一直在研究TGF-β家族的几个成员的结构和功能，并证明激活素刺激，而TGF-β和骨形态发生蛋白（BMP）-15抑制，卵子在斑马鱼卵巢成熟。在接下来的五年里，我们将继续使用斑马鱼作为模型来解决以下问题：1）激活素，TGF-β和BMP-15在卵子成熟和排卵中的生理意义是什么？2)这些因素是如何调节卵子成熟的？3)是什么调节了这些因子的表达和活动？我们将首先使用功能获得和丧失方法来确定激活素、TGF-β和BMP-15的生理作用。 我们将测试这些因素是否主要通过调节卵子对成熟诱导激素的反应来调节卵子成熟。最后，我们将研究这些因子的产生和活性是如何由其他激素和一组小RNA（称为microRNA）控制的。 拟议的研究将提供新的见解的调节，行动和信号通路的TGF-β家族在卵巢。它们将增强我们对脊椎动物生殖的全面了解。 最后，这些研究也可能在水产养殖中有潜在的应用。

Animal reproductive functions require precise hormonal control. Members of the transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) family have been found to play important roles in regulating ovarian functions; however, their precise physiological roles are not fully understood. We have been studying the structure and function of several members of the TGF-beta family and demonstrated that activin stimulates, while TGF-beta and bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)-15 inhibit, maturation of eggs in the zebrafish ovary. In the next five years, we will continue to use zebrafish as a model to address the following questions: 1) what are the physiological significance of activin, TGF-beta and BMP-15 in egg maturation and ovulation? 2) how do these factors regulate egg maturation? 3) what modulates the expression and activities of these factors? We will first use gain- and loss-of-functions approaches to determine the physiological roles of activin, TGF-beta, and BMP-15. We will test if these factors regulate egg maturation mainly by regulating the responsiveness of eggs to maturation-inducing hormones. Finally, we will examine how the production and activity of these factors are controlled by other hormones and by a group of small RNAs, known as microRNA. The proposed studies will provide novel insight into the regulation, actions, and signaling pathways of the TGF-beta family in the ovary. They will enhance our overall understanding of vertebrate reproduction. Finally, these studies may also have potential application into aquaculture.