Request for Funding

Medical Student Research Fellowship for Summer 2004

Mentor: Stephen R Hammes
Department: Internal Medicine
Room number: Y9.310
Mail Code: 8857
Phone number: 214-648-4793
E-mail: stephen.hammes@utsouthwestern.edu
Project title: Steroid Signaling in the Ovary

Human subjects IRB approved project number (where applicable):

Animal subjects IRB approved project number (where applicable): 0867-02-01-1

Project Type (patient-based research, animal-based research, or basic research; this characterization is only to permit a general classification for grouping similar types of projects) Basic Research

Brief Description of Project:

The Hammes laboratory is interested in how steroid hormones interact with membranes to mediate transcription-independent, or nongenomic, effects. Specifically, the laboratory studies nongenomic androgen-induced resumption of meiosis, or maturation, of frog and mouse oocytes. Our interest in this system is three-fold: First, androgen-induced oocyte maturation is a reproducible, biologically relevant, and easily measured event. Second, oocytes can be manipulated with relative ease in vitro to study androgen-mediated events. Third, a great deal of evidence indicates that physiologic levels of androgens are important for normal oocyte development, while supra-physiologic concentrations may be promoting ovarian pathology such as polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS, the leading cause of infertility in young women). Therefore, the clinical applications of our research are relatively compelling.
We are interested in both identifying novel steroid receptors located at the cell membrane and characterizing the role of classical steroid receptors in the maturation response. In addition, we would like to further characterize the signaling events triggered by steroids binding to these molecules, and have focused on the role of G proteins in mediating nongenomic steroid-induced signaling. Finally, we are interested in further characterizing the cross-talk between oocytes and surrounding follicular cells and the role of these interactions in mediating normal follicular growth.
We hope that our studies will lead to a better understanding of how steroids can signal independent of transcription. In addition, we hope that our work will further elucidate the critical role of androgens in ovarian development and pathology.

Previous Research Activities or Publications with Medical Students:

Bruce, Kristin and Hammes, S.R., Nongenomic Actions of Progesterone in Xenopus Oocytes, Poster presented at the 39th Medical Student Research Forum (2001)

Stair, Matthew and Hammes, S.R., Differential Sensitivities of the Xenopus Androgen Receptor and the Human Androgen Receptor, Oral Presentation at the 40th Medical Student Research Forum (2002)

Cowling, C.L., Gill, A., Lutz, L.B., Jahani, D., Razar, M., and Hammes, S.R., The Role of the Androgen Receptor in Xenopus Oocyte Maturation, Poster Presentation at the 41st Medical Student Research Forum (2003)

Arriens, T., Initial Characterization of an Ovarian Inhibitor of Meiosis (2003)

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