{"177541":{"#nid":"177541","#data":{"type":"event","title":"Integrated Cancer Research Seminar Series","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u0022Models to Study Cancer and Reproduction\u0022\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EMartin M. Matzuk, MD, PhD\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EStuart A. Wallace Chair and Professor\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDepartment of Pathology \u0026amp; Immunology \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDepartment of Molecular \u0026amp; Human Genetics\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBaylor College of Medicine\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003ETo achieve a healthy pregnancy, the embryo and the uterus must establish a cross talk that will be essential throughout gestation. The implantation of the embryo takes place in a limited window of time when the uterus is receptive and the embryo has reached the proper stage of development. This crucial synchrony is controlled by the sex hormones through the regulation of the expression of many downstream factors; intriguingly, these factors are connected by mutual regulation and feedback loops that make this regulatory network challenging to decipher.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EDuring the last two decades, our group has interrogated the roles of the transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) signaling pathways in the mammalian reproductive tract through the creation of specific mutations of ligand and receptor genes. Our studies indicate that key ligand:receptor interactions are required for female fertility. Moreover, considering the broad involvement of the TGF\u03b2 superfamily in many processes, it is crucial to further dissect these pathways in ovarian and uterine biology to identify possible targets for future therapeutic manipulation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EMicroRNAs comprise a major class of small RNAs that have been shown to have roles in mammalian reproduction. miRNAs are 21-23 nucleotide small RNAs and are produced through the actions of the RNase III DICER. To study the global roles of microRNAs in female reproductive tract development, physiology, and disease (e.g., infertility and ovarian cancer), our laboratory has used conditional knockout approaches to ablate DICER and other key genes.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe importance of our findings can be fully appreciated if we consider that ~10 percent of U.S. women (6.1 million) ages 15-44 have difficulty getting pregnant or staying pregnant. In particular, 75% of the lost pregnancies are due to failure at the implantation stage. At the same time, unplanned pregnancy is a major healthcare problem. Our in vivo studies will be addressed in this presentation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe research in our laboratory is supported by grants from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech has been a leader in the development of collaborative approaches to both cancer diagnostics and therapeutics. The mission of the Integrated Cancer Research Center (ICRC) is to facilitate integration of the diversity of technological, computational, scientific and medical expertise at Georgia Tech and partner institutions in a coordinated effort to develop improved cancer diagnostics and therapeutics.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"\u0022Models to Study Cancer and Reproduction\u0022 - Martin M. Matzuk, MD, PhD - Baylor College of Medicine"}],"uid":"27195","created_gmt":"2012-12-13 15:34:33","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 02:01:35","author":"Colly Mitchell","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","field_event_time":{"event_time_start":"2013-03-05T15:00:00-05:00","event_time_end":"2013-03-05T16:00:00-05:00","event_time_end_last":"2013-03-05T16:00:00-05:00","gmt_time_start":"2013-03-05 20:00:00","gmt_time_end":"2013-03-05 21:00:00","gmt_time_end_last":"2013-03-05 21:00:00","rrule":null,"timezone":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"177481":{"id":"177481","type":"image","title":"Martin M. Matzuk, MD, PhD - Baylor College of Medicine","body":null,"created":"1449179031","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:43:51","changed":"1475894822","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:02","alt":"Martin M. Matzuk, MD, PhD - Baylor College of Medicine","file":{"fid":"195921","name":"matzuk2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/matzuk2_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/matzuk2_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":14726,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/matzuk2_0.jpg?itok=oUbmLxTj"}}},"media_ids":["177481"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.bcm.edu\/db\/db_fac-matzuk.html","title":"Matzuk profile"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.ibb.gatech.edu\/icrc-seminars","title":"ICRC Seminar Series schedule"}],"groups":[{"id":"1292","name":"Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (IBB)"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"248","name":"IBB"},{"id":"52061","name":"ICRC Seminar"},{"id":"53111","name":"Martin M. Matzuk"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[{"id":"1795","name":"Seminar\/Lecture\/Colloquium"}],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:john.mcdonald@biology.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJohn McDonald, PhD\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}