The grant will support studies of proteins that help regulate female reproduction.
Many hormones orchestrate the menstrual cycle and pregnancy.
Several of these contain a common building block plus a unique building block that confers a specific function. In this project, Sadovsky will focus on factors that regulate levels of LH-beta, the unique subunit of luteinizing hormone. This pituitary hormone promotes ovulation and progesterone production. Jeffrey D. Milbrandt, M.D., Ph.D., professor of medicine and pathology, with whom Sadovsky was working at that time, discovered the Egr proteins. The researchers now will determine the molecular mechanism of this synergism, in both cultured cells and mice.