On this page:

• R0111: Development of a Model to Study Implantation in the Human
• R0143: To derive human embryonic stem cells and trophoblast cell lines
• R0149: To Develop Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) for Mitochondrial DNA Disease

R0111: Development of a Model to Study Implantation in the Human

Licence holder: Dr Karen Turner

Lay Summary:

It is now 25 years since the first IVF baby was born but success rates remain disappointingly low, with only in one in five couples going home with a child. Technical advances such as surgical sperm retrieval and ICSI have meant that the majority of couples are now achieving fertilisation but in many cases apparently normal embryos are transferred back to the mother but fail to implant.

The purpose of this study is to investigate factors produced by the embryo and the endometrium (the lining of the uterus) which are necessary for successful implantation and to set up laboratory models to investigate the interactions between the embryo and endometrium during the implantation process.

It is hoped that the knowledge gained from these studies will help in the selection of the best embryos for transfer in IVF and to therapies that will increase the chances of implantation and thereby IVF success rates.

Back to top

R0143: To derive human embryonic stem cells and trophoblast cell lines

Licence holder: Dr Karen Turner

Lay Summary:

There is considerable scientific and medical interest in the possibility that stem cells may make new treatment approaches possible for many chronic diseases, including diabetes, heart disease and nervous system diseases such as Parkinson's disease. These new therapies will be possible because stem cells, which are found in the very early embryo, have the potential to form every cell type in the body. It is now possible to isolate these cells from the embryo, maintain them in culture in their stem cell state in the laboratory, and, alternatively, tweak them to develop into different cell types, such as heart, bone and muscle cells.

This project seeks to understand how to maintain stem cells in culture, and how to promote them to develop into different cell types. Stem cells will be obtained from the very early embryo, at a stage known as the blastocyst at about six days after conception, when it is smaller than a pinhead and contains just one hundred cells. At this early stage, there are just two types of cells, the stem cells and another type of cell, known as the trophectoderm that will go on to develop into the placenta. Stem cells will be isolated and grown in culture. The factors controlling their maintenance as stem cells as well as the molecular instructions that direct their development into different cell types will be studied. The trophectoderm will also be isolated and cultured so that we can understand what factors are important in development of the placenta.

The overall aims of our research are to improve our understanding of how stem cells can be maintained and controlled to develop into specific cell types, to study diseases of pregnancy that involve abnormalities in the cells which will ultimately become the placenta. It is anticipated that our discoveries will contribute not only to the design of new stem cell based treatments in the future, but to our understanding of how such diseases develop in the first place.

Back to top

R0149: To Develop Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) for Mitochondrial DNA Disease

Licence holder: Dr Karen Turner

Lay summary:

Mitochondrial diseases affect about 1 in 10,000 people in the UK. Examples include Leigh disease, Myoclonic epilepsy and ragged red fibres (MERRF) syndrome, Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON), Mitochondrial encephalopathy, lactic acidosis and stroke-like episodes (MELAS), and Pearson syndrome. The diseases are usually neurodegenerative because mitochondria are the "power houses" in cells.

Some women are carriers of defective mitochondrial genes. This means that they carry both normal and damaged mitochondrial genes, and can pass these devastating conditions on to any children they may have. It is particularly difficult to advise these women about the size of their individual risk, because the rules governing transmission of mitochondrial genes are not well understood.

The aim of this research is to establish the techniques for identifying defects in mitochondrial DNA in human embryos created by IVF to allow the selection of non-affected embryos for transfer to the mother. This technique is referred to as pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD).

Back to top