How is oocyte maturation regulated?
This project has grown out of an international collaboration with Dr. Andrew Giusti, Dr. Laurinda Jaffe and labs in Japan, Chile and Canada through the Human Frontiers in Science Program. It is focused on the identification of the oocyte membrane receptor for the sea star oocyte maturation hormone, 1-methyl adenine (1-MA). Oocyte maturation is characterized by cell cycle re-entry of an arrested oocyte to reach fertilization competence. Although this event is fundamental to development of all higher eukaryotes, the receptor for an oocyte maturation hormone has yet to be identified definitively in any species studied to date. While the key components of the maturation network in oocytes appear to be cellular signaling molecules common to most species, the key initiator in this cellular cascade, binding of maturation hormone to its cell surface receptor, continues to elude researchers. The goal of our project is to identify and clone a cDNA encoding the oocyte maturation hormone receptor
