Links between metabolism and the development of eggs may hold answers about infertility, IVF treatment

Mitochondria | Photo credit: sciencephoto.com

Source: Carnegie Institution | Summary: Reproduction is highly dependent on diet and the ability to use nutrients to grow and generate energy. New work dissects the links between metabolism and the development of eggs and may provide a new understanding of human infertility as well as IVF treatment failures.

Reproduction is highly dependent on diet and the ability to use nutrients to grow and generate energy. This is clearly seen in women, who must provide all the nutritional building blocks required to support a growing embryo. 

As a result, metabolic diseases like diabetes and obesity are closely linked with several female reproductive disorders such as: Infertility, polycystic ovary syndrome, and ovarian cancer. However, the precise links between reproductive processes and metabolism remains poorly understood.

In a recent study, published in Cell, Carnegie's Matthew Sieber, Michael Thomsen, and Allan Spradling use the fruit fly as a system to dissect the links between metabolism and the development of eggs. As eggs, also known as oocytes, enter the final stages of development, they accumulate large amounts of proteins, lipids and sugars in order to fuel the embryo after fertilization. The Spradling lab was able to identify a functional and biochemical change in the developing oocytes that induces carbohydrate storage.

Mitochondria are the structures within cells that convert nutrients, such as sugar, into energy that fuels the cell, allowing it to function and grow..."

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