This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Cryopreservation of ovarian tissue with subsequent grafting may circumvent chemotherapy-induced sterility. Investigations in a nonhuman primate model will facilitate clinical application. In six rhesus monkeys, autografts of ovarian cortical tissue were previously placed at various sites subcutaneously or on the kidney. Follicular development was monitored endocrinologically and oocytes retrieved when possible. Also, an intermediate animal host, as in mouse xenografts, may alleviate the risk of cancer transmission and additionally provide a model to study apoptosis and angiogenesis during the early stages of graft development. Monkey ovarian tissue was transplanted to kidneys of immunodeficient mice. Our present focus is the pretreatment of tissue with the anti-apoptotic agent, S1P, with regards to DNA degradation as measured by TUNEL analysis and apoptosis measured by activated caspase activity. Initial studies examined the effects of S1P in vitro with these apoptotic indices.
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