In the laboratory, the research is mainly focused on the regulation of ovarian function in mammals. The laboratory is currently employing high throughput DNA microarrays and proteomics approaches to develop a broader view of gene expression changes in the oocyte, granulosa cell, corpus luteum, and embryos to identify genes/products involved during various processes of early mammalian development.
In mammals, the earliest stages of embryogenesis are regulated by maternally inherited transcripts, but after fertilization, the embryonic genome becomes transcriptionally active and this occurs at a species-specific cell stage (2-cell stage in mice, 4-cell stage in humans and rats, and 8-cell stage in cattle, see Fig. 1). However, it has been observed that a so called ‘minor genome activation’ is initiated as early as the 1-cell zygotic stage in many species including the bovine. Regulation of bovine embryonic gene expression still remains an unsolved biological question.
Ongoing Research Topics :
1. Elucidation of molecular mechanisms of regression following corpus luteum regression:
i) Examination of various elements of survival and apoptotic cascades (intrinsic and extrinsic) during corpus luteum regression in primate and non primate model systems.
ii) Genome-wide gene expression analysis during induced luteolysis.
2. Activation of IGF-I signaling pathway on proliferation and apoptosis of granulosa cells of the ovulating follicle.
3. Crosstalk between GPCR and Cytokine receptor activating signaling.
4. Delineation of pleiotropic actions of prolactin in the regulation of structure and function of corpus luteum and identification of prolactin activated cytokine signaling molecules associated with apoptosis. And
5. Expression, isolation and characterization of Undercarboxylated Osteocalcin and its role in
energy metabolism.
