The goal of this research program is to learn how ova are transported through mammalian oviducts. Analysis of the mechanisms underlying oviductal transport is accomplished experimentally by selectively altering oviductal structure with microsurgical reconstruction, comparing transport of substances having different physical properties, perturbing the activities of the muscle of cilia, or otherwise altering the transport environment. Experiments are proposed to study the functions of ovum pickup, ampullary ovum transport, tubal containment of ova, ovum transport across the ampullary-isthmic junction, and transport of ova through the isthmus and into the uterus. Direct observational experiments in anesthetized rabbits, simultaneous measurement of transport phenomena and associated mechanical properties and activities of the oviduct, and complementary morphological studies are used to determine the mechanism(s) governing each of these transport functions. Subsequent in vitro experimentation explores how the mechanism performs its function. Hypotheses of transport derived from the acute, anesthetized animal experiments that involve dynamic time dependent mechanisms, such as hormonally-controlled muscle transport of ova, are tested in experiments using implanted sensors which are monitored throughout the period of transport. Experimental data are used to develop a mathematical model to explain net transport of ova in terms of observed intraluminal motion. The concept of mechanistic redundancy in ovum transport is being evaluated as it pertains not only to normal fertility but also to oviductal disease and infertility.
