Transposons and ovulatory cycles – key players in long-term female fertility?
Description: In mammalian female foetuses, the oocytes are established as a finite pool. They enter meiosis I before birth and remain arrested until the meiotic resumption during the reproductive period, leading to ovulation. Oocytes of long-lived species can be arrested for decades while maintaining the quality to support embryonic development. To understand the mechanisms of long-term female fertility, we study naked mole rat (NMR) and giant mole rat (GMR), rodents with reproductive span greater than 20 and 15 years, respectively. Decreased oocyte quality in aged mice was linked with transposon (TE) dysregulation and deleterious effect of ovulations. Low genomic content of potentially active TEs and social system comprising ovulating and non-ovulating females make NMR and GMR suitable models to study the effect of TEs and ovulatory cycles on oocyte and ovarian quality. By combining the latest genomics and imaging technologies, we will assess the consequences of low TE activity on the oocyte transcriptome and epigenome, and the effect of ovulations on the aging-associated decline of the quality.
Amount: CZK 24,250,000
Funding type: grant
Funder scheme: International Projects
Start date: 2024-01-01
End date: 2028-12-31
Institution: Jihočeská univerzita v Českých Budějovicích
Funded outputs count: 2
Funder award ID: GM24-11761M
OpenAlex ID: G340035291