One of the most important moments in the establishment of a new life goes by largely unnoticed.
About a week before the first obvious sign of pregnancy – the missed period – a tiny ball of cells that has grown from a fertilized egg grabs hold of the mother’s uterine lining where it nestles in for a nine-month residence. This moment of implantation sets the stage for the remainder of pregnancy, with the slightest disruption threatening the embryo’s future.
The factors that guide this pivotal process remain shrouded in mystery due to the difficulty of studying this hidden and fleeting event. Advancing the knowledge of implantation and the molecules and pathways that guide it is a critical step toward improving birth control methods and understanding and treating infertility.
Researchers in the Division of Reproductive and Developmental Biology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, led by S. K. Dey, Ph.D., are using animal models – primarily genetically engineered mice – to identify and characterize the molecules that guide implantation. continued>>
|
