About the project
This project aims to identify cellular structural changes and signalling molecules in endometrial glands from women with recurrent pregnancy loss. Understanding what these changes mean biologically could help improve pregnancy success in this disease.
For successful pregnancy the endometrium must create the right environment for embryo implantation. The implantation environment is determined by the structure and function of the endometrium. If the endometrium is not in the right receptive state for the embryo to properly attach and survive this can lead to pregnancy loss.
The endometrium consists of epithelial and stroma cells that form endometrial glands. These glands provide secretions that contain extracellular vesicles (EVs) into the uterine fluid and contain motile cilia to move or mix the secretions. Animal models have shown that these glands are required for successful pregnancy.
This project has 3 aims for you to work on:
- Quantify ultrastructural cilia defects and cilia function in the endometrial glands of women with recurrent pregnancy loss compared to control. You will use high-resolution 3D imaging via electron microscopy and high-speed video microscopy analysis. This will provide 3D architectural and functional information of cilia from endometrial glands.
- Determine whether EVs produced by endometrial glands and their microRNA content differ in women with RM compared to control. Endometrial glands will be isolated with matched EVs from uterine fluid samples and microRNA-sequencing carried out on both with bioinformatic analysis.
- Establish whether microRNA and cell specific gene expression profiles relate to the gland structural and functional changes and provide potential biomarkers of receptivity.
