Enzymes responsible for female fertility identified

According to Dr. Joanne S. Richards, the lead author of the study and a professor of molecular and cellular biology at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) and UC (University of California), San Diego, “This finding could provide clues to developing new contraceptives and understanding infertility in some women with irregular menstrual cycles.”

Research by experts at BCM names two enzymes ERK1 and ERK2 (extracellular signal-related kinases) that play a significant role in not only inducing ovulation but also help in nurturing the maturation and the release of oocyte (mammalian egg).

Details of the study
Researchers conducted the study on mice to understand the complex sequence of ovulation. The subjects (mice) used in the study were lacking in genes required to produce both ERK1 as well as ERK2. They were compared with mice that produced the two ovulation inducing enzymes (ERK1, ERK2).

“Ovulation results from a complex interplay of chemical sequences,” informed the director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), Dr Duane Alexander.

“The researchers have identified a crucial biochemical intermediary controlling the release of the egg. The finding advances our understanding and may one day contribute to new treatments for infertility as well as new ways to prevent pregnancy from occurring,” added Dr. Alexander.

New treatment options for infertility and controlling pregnancy
According to chief of the NICHD Reproductive Sciences Branch, Dr. Louise V De Pauolo, the two enzymes/proteins, namely ERK1 and ERK2, are vital to facilitate ovulation in females suffering from infertility or to control ovulation in women as birth control.
“This is a key chemical pathway that affects not only ovulation, but egg cell maturation and granulosa cell differentiation into luteal cells,” Dr. De Paolo further said.

Richards and Dr. Heng-Yu Fan, the paper’s first author and a senior postdoctoral fellow in Richard’s laboratory agreed, “There are other genes that when mutated can block ovulation and other activities involved with oocyte maturation or formation of corpora lutea. But these are the only ones so potent that they can block everything.”

However, further research is needed to know various other components involved in the sequence that lead up to ovulation. “We're still at the tip of the iceberg. We need to understand it all,” stated De Paolo.

The study, which identifies and unveils various aspects involved in ovulation, is published in the journal Science on May 16. It was funded by the National Cancer Institute and NICHD.