Researchers have
discovered that a chemical can trigger the maturation of small eggs to healthy,
mature eggs in IVF treatment in the future.
Researchers at the University of Gothenburg have discovered that
a chemical can trigger the maturation of small eggs to healthy, mature eggs, a
process that could give more women the chance of successful
IVF treatment in the future. The results have been published in the revered
journal PloS ONE.
Women and girls treated for cancer
with radiotherapy and chemotherapy are often unable to have children as their
eggs die as a result of the treatment.
Although it is now possible to freeze
eggs and even embryos, this is not an option for girls who have yet to
reach puberty. A better way of preserving their fertility is to freeze slices
of ovarian tissue that contain small immature eggs, and subsequently mature
these eggs so that they can be used in IVF treatment. Unfortunately there is,
at present, no way of maturing small eggs in an artificial environment outside
the body.
How the study was done
A research group led by professor Kui Liu at the University of
Gothenburg has recently discovered that a chemical which inhibits the PTEN
molecule can trigger the maturation of small eggs to form healthy, mature eggs.
Carrying out a study on mice, the researchers managed to produce
five live young mice from eggs matured using this PTEN inhibitor to help the
growth and maturation process.
The results have been published in PloS ONE and build on previous results
published in Science,
where the group showed that PTEN is a molecule that inhibits an egg's
development.
"This discovery demonstrates that there is a realistic
chance of being able to use PTEN inhibitors to
activate small eggs in a test tube,"
says Kui Liu, professor at the University of Gothenburg's Department of
Chemistry and Molecular Biology.
Methods used during study
Professor Kui Liu has led the study and is optimistic about the
new method. "This technique is extremely valuable for those women who have
only small eggs in their ovaries and cannot be helped by IVF as things
stand," says Kui Liu.
Kui Liu's group demonstrated in the study that a short treatment
with the PTEN inhibitor can trigger the growth of small eggs, and that this
treatment makes it possible to produce plenty of mature eggs.
The results also show that healthy, live young can be born from
treated eggs used in IVF. Not only were the young mice born fertile, they also
showed no signs or symptoms of chronic disease at the age of 15 months, which
equates to 70 human years.
Kui Liu is a professor of molecular biology and his group
specialises in the study of molecular mechanisms that affect the development of
female reproductive cells. His aim is to be able to use this method to help
women.
"We hope to see this method being used clinically within
five to ten years," says Kui Liu.
(EurekAlert, September 2012)
Source: health 24.com
