A study by researchers at the Sheba Medical Center which reveals the importance of the prostaglandin regulation mechanism in ovulation may help in the development of innovative contraceptives * The study was published on Thursday in the journal Science Translational
Researchers from the Haim Sheba Tel Hashomer Medical Center managed to uncover an important aspect of the mechanism of action and regulation of the prostaglandins in the ovulation process. In a study, published this week in the journal Science Translational Medicine, the researchers found that the prostaglandin carrier (PGT) plays an important role in ovulation, and blocking it in mice prevents ovulation. The research was led by Prof. Ariel Horvitz from the Reproduction Laboratory and IVF Unit, along with Dr. Gil Yerushalmi, Dr. Yuval Jung and research student Svetlana Markman.
In a conversation with the Hiden site, Prof. Horvitz, director of the Tel Hashomer Fertility Laboratory, who is also a member of the Tel Aviv University School of Medicine, explains that the laboratory is engaged in researching ovulation processes. As part of this work, we built a library of genes whose expression increases significantly during the ovulation process. These proteins may become drug targets and one of them, the PGT, increased very significantly during the ovulation process, so it caught our eye.
The PGT is responsible for regulating the levels of prostaglandins in the body and since we know that prostaglandins are important in the ovulation process, we decided to deepen the research in it.
The PGT protein is a membrane channel (in the cell wall), whose function is to bring the prostaglandins into the cell for discharge. In this way, the PGT protein is responsible for regulating and controlling the levels of prostaglandins outside the cell. Blockage of the canal impairs this control, and the excess prostaglandins accumulated outside the cell impairs normal ovulation. As part of an experiment in which we blocked the carrier for prostaglandins at the same time as inducing ovulation in mice, it was found that among those mice that were injected with the block, the ovulation process did not occur at all, while those mice that did not receive the block ovulated normally.
According to the researchers, the results of the study may help develop a new generation of non-hormonal contraceptives as well as improve the treatment of women trying to conceive through in vitro fertilization. Today, most of the contraceptives available on the market are hormonal contraceptives containing estrogen and progesterone, the use of which involves a certain risk and is even prohibited among certain groups of women, such as women suffering from hypercoagulability. A non-hormonal contraceptive can save the side effects that accompany the contraceptives currently on the market.
"In addition to being used as a contraceptive, we hope that the new mechanism can also be used to improve fertility treatments. Today there is talk of a 35-40% chance in one treatment cycle for the success of fertility treatments (IVF) in young women. In this process we extract eggs and fertilize them in the laboratory. In recent years, a technique has been developed according to which the eggs are extracted at an earlier stage, meaning that they are not yet ripe, and part of the egg maturation process is carried out in the laboratory. But this technique has not yet been able to reach the level of success of treatments in which mature eggs are used in advance. We are trying to improve the in vitro maturation process of the eggs, so we are investigating every protein and every gene that might be involved in such an improvement."
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Why does the excess of prostaglandins outside the cell harm normal ovulation?