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Biomedicines
Special Issues
Molecular and Cellular Biology in Reproductive Medicine
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Molecular and Cellular Biology in Reproductive Medicine

A special issue of Biomedicines (ISSN 2227-9059). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular and Translational Medicine".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2022) | Viewed by 5960

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Jae Ho Lee

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Department of Biomedical Sciences, CHA University, Seoul, Korea
2. CHA Infertility Center Seoul Station, CHA Medical Group, Seoul, Korea
Interests: aging; reproductive medicine; mitochondria dysfunction; cytoskeleton; rejuvenation; biomaterials; biomedical engineering
Prof. Dr. Jung-Jae Ko

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biomedical Sciences, CHA University, Seoul, Korea
Interests: reproductive medicine; ovary; oogenesis; mitochondria dysfunction; cytoskeleton; aging
Prof. Dr. Ling Chi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
2. Jinxin Fertility Group, Hong Kong, China
Interests: preimplantation embryo development; aneuploidy; advanced female aging and oo-cyte/embryo
Prof. Dr. Myung Joo Kim

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, CHA Fertility Center Seoul Station, CHA University School of Medicine, Seoul 04637, Korea
Interests: reproductive medicine; advanced female aging; poor ovarian responder; preimplantation genetic testing

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In assisted reproductive technology (ART) introduced four decades ago, several advanced techniques were developed to help overcome infertility issues, such as intracytosplasmic sperm injection, etc. However, there are still issues that are left to be solved, such as diminished ovarian reverse, advanced age female infertility, aneuploidy, and spermatogenesis arrest.

Therefore, reproductive medicine requests a new viewpoint study from the molecular to the cellular level to overcome major issues in ART. Then, we will be able to solve issues within the ART field.

Diminished ovarian reverse (DOR) is a major determinant of successful pregnancy outcomes in female infertility. Currently, DOR has a limit to its diagnosis marker, and no curative treatment is available for infertility related to advanced aging. This manifests as the reduced competence of oocytes and embryos in ART. In humans, the ovary only has menopause phenotypes compared to other mammalian species, such as primates. An average elderly woman shows a menopause phenotype even when the ovary has reached oogenesis capacity. However, menopause for humans still does not completely elucidate its mechanism and cause. How old do women have to be to reduce the developmental competence of oogenesis? Older infertile women have an unmet need to eliminate age-related issues that prevent them from having successful pregnancies and to experience a healthy birthing experience. The advanced aging of females shows several issues in the reproductive capacity of ovarian functions, such as poor ovarian stimulation syndrome, an increase in aneuploidy, a decrease in ovulation activity, a decrease in pregnancy, and a decrease in live birth ratios. These issues, however, will be worth investigating because the average age at which people marry has increased, and the mean age at which women experience infertility has also dramatically increased over the last decade. Female infertility challenges a new concept based on molecular/cellular biology. Non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA) is an unsolved major male infertility issue, similar to spermatogenesis arrest. There are several reports that markers of spermatogonia and in vitro culture techniques help to understand and provide therapy for NOA. However, this still does apply to the clinical field. Therefore, scientific efforts with a study that includes multiple viewpoints, such as molecular and cellular levels, are important.

This Special Issue is expected to provide a better understanding of reproduction and opens up questions and answers about the development of medicine or protocols overcoming the issues surrounding female and male infertility with prospective discussions. Accordingly, this Special Issue covers a wide range of molecular and cellular biology to clinical studies about unsolved issues related to male and female infertility.

Prof. Dr. Jae Ho Lee
Prof. Dr. Jung-Jae Ko
Prof. Dr. Ling Chi
Prof. Dr. Myung Joo Kim
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Biomedicines is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • reproductive medicine
  • diminished ovarian reverse
  • poor ovarian responders according to aging
  • functional recovery of the ovary
  • oogenesis
  • preimplantation embryo development
  • aneuploidy
  • aging-related genetic disorder
  • non obstructive azoospermia
  • male infertility
  • female infertility

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 5441 KiB  
Article
Inflammatory Cytokine-Induced HIF-1 Activation Promotes Epithelial–Mesenchymal Transition in Endometrial Epithelial Cells
by Yoshiko Hashimoto, Tomoko Tsuzuki-Nakao, Naoko Kida, Yoshiyuki Matsuo, Tetsuo Maruyama, Hidetaka Okada and Kiichi Hirota
Biomedicines 2023, 11(1), 210; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines11010210 - 14 Jan 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1835
Abstract
The endometrium undergoes repeated proliferation and shedding during the menstrual cycle. Significant changes to this environment include fluctuations in the partial pressure of oxygen, exposure to a high-cytokine environment associated with intrauterine infection, and inflammation. Chronic endometritis is a condition wherein mild inflammation [...] Read more.
The endometrium undergoes repeated proliferation and shedding during the menstrual cycle. Significant changes to this environment include fluctuations in the partial pressure of oxygen, exposure to a high-cytokine environment associated with intrauterine infection, and inflammation. Chronic endometritis is a condition wherein mild inflammation persists in the endometrium and is one of the causes of implantation failure and miscarriage in early pregnancy. It is thought that the invasion of embryos into the endometrium requires epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT)-associated changes in the endometrial epithelium. However, the effects of inflammation on the endometrium remain poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the effects of the intrauterine oxygen environment, hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF), and inflammation on the differentiation and function of endometrial epithelial cells. We elucidated the ways in which inflammatory cytokines affect HIF activity and EMT in an immortalized cell line (EM-E6/E7/TERT) derived from endometrial epithelium. Pro-inflammatory cytokines caused significant accumulation of HIF-1α protein, increased HIF-1α mRNA levels, and enhanced hypoxia-induced accumulation of HIF-1α protein. The combined effect of inflammatory cytokines and hypoxia increased the expression of EMT-inducing factors and upregulated cell migration. Our findings indicate that pro-inflammatory factors, including cytokines and LPS, work synergistically with hypoxia to activate HIF-1 and promote EMT in endometrial epithelial cells. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular and Cellular Biology in Reproductive Medicine)
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17 pages, 2727 KiB  
Article
Stabilization of F-Actin Cytoskeleton by Paclitaxel Improves the Blastocyst Developmental Competence through P38 MAPK Activity in Porcine Embryos
by Seung-Yeon Joe, Seul-Gi Yang, Jae-Ho Lee, Hyo-Jin Park and Deog-Bon Koo
Biomedicines 2022, 10(8), 1867; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines10081867 - 02 Aug 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1621
Abstract
Changes in F-actin distribution and cortical F-actin morphology are important for blastocyst developmental competence during embryogenesis. However, the effect of paclitaxel as a microtubule stabilizer on embryonic development in pigs remains unclear. We investigated the role of F-actin cytoskeleton stabilization via P38 MAPK [...] Read more.
Changes in F-actin distribution and cortical F-actin morphology are important for blastocyst developmental competence during embryogenesis. However, the effect of paclitaxel as a microtubule stabilizer on embryonic development in pigs remains unclear. We investigated the role of F-actin cytoskeleton stabilization via P38 MAPK activation using paclitaxel to improve the developmental potential of blastocysts in pigs. In this study, F-actin enrichment and adducin expression based on blastomere fragment rate and cytokinesis defects were investigated in cleaved embryos after in vitro fertilization (IVF). Adducin and adhesive junction F-actin fluorescence intensity were significantly reduced with increasing blastomere fragment rate in porcine embryos. In addition, porcine embryos were cultured with 10 and 100 nM paclitaxel for two days after IVF. Adhesive junction F-actin stabilization and p-P38 MAPK activity in embryos exposed to 10 nM paclitaxel increased significantly with blastocyst development competence. However, increased F-actin aggregation, cytokinesis defects, and over-expression of p-P38 MAPK protein by 100 nM paclitaxel exposure disrupted blastocyst development in porcine embryos. In addition, exposure to 100 nM paclitaxel increased the misaligned α-tubulin of spindle assembly and adhesive junction F-actin aggregation at the blastocyst stage, which might be caused by p-P38 protein over-expression-derived apoptosis in porcine embryos. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular and Cellular Biology in Reproductive Medicine)
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15 pages, 1129 KiB  
Article
Intraovarian Injection of Recombinant Human Follicle-Stimulating Hormone for Luteal-Phase Ovarian Stimulation during Oocyte Retrieval Is Effective in Women with Impending Ovarian Failure and Diminished Ovarian Reserve
by Chao-Chin Hsu, Isabel Hsu, Li-Hsuan Lee, Yuan-Shuo Hsueh, Chih-Ying Lin and Hui Hua Chang
Biomedicines 2022, 10(6), 1312; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines10061312 - 03 Jun 2022
Viewed by 1985
Abstract
It is a challenge to obtain sufficient eggs during in vitro fertilization (IVF) in women with impending ovarian failure (IOF)/diminished ovarian reserve (DOR). Although studies have suggested that more than one wave of follicle growth exists, the efficacy of controlled ovulation stimulation (COS) [...] Read more.
It is a challenge to obtain sufficient eggs during in vitro fertilization (IVF) in women with impending ovarian failure (IOF)/diminished ovarian reserve (DOR). Although studies have suggested that more than one wave of follicle growth exists, the efficacy of controlled ovulation stimulation (COS) in both follicular and luteal phases of the same ovarian cycle (DuoStim) is not established in women with IOF/DOR. We investigated the efficacy of DuoStim using the intraovarian injection of recombinant human follicle-stimulating hormone (rhFSH) during oocyte retrieval in women with DOR. For luteal-phase stimulation, intraovarian (Group A, N = 28) or superficial subcutaneous (Group B, N = 18) injection of 300 IU rhFSH immediately after oocyte retrieval was administered as the first dose, and intermittent superficial subcutaneous addition of gonadotropins was employed accordingly for further COS in both groups. In Group A, significantly lower Gn doses, a shorter duration of COS, a greater number of antral follicle counts, and an increased number of retrieved mature and total oocytes were noted. Compared with the clinical outcomes of luteal-phase COS, the average daily doses of rhFSH used in Group A were significantly lower. In summary, the novel approach using intraovarian rhFSH injection provides an efficient treatment regimen in women with IOF/DOR. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular and Cellular Biology in Reproductive Medicine)
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