Anti-cancer gene 'to aid pregnancy'
Updated on 28 November 2007
A gene famous for its ability to suppress cancer may also play a role in pregnancy, scientists have learned.
P53, known as the "guardian of the genome", helps the embryo implant itself in the wall of the womb, research suggests.
The discovery could in future form the basis of novel fertility treatments.
Without successful implantation, a pregnancy will fail. Lack of implantation is the most common cause of failed pregnancy after In-Vitro Fertilisation treatment.
P53 helps prevent cancer by protecting cells from stress-induced DNA damage. Many cancers are thought to involve something going wrong with the p53 mechanism.
Researchers are actively trying to develop drugs that fight cancer by regulating p53.
The new findings, published in the journal Nature, suggest the same molecules might double either as fertility treatments or contraceptives.
US scientists working with mice discovered that p53 regulates levels of LIF (leukaemia inhibitory factor), a key signalling molecule involved in embryo implantation.
LIF is secreted by glands in the womb lining, and without it implantation cannot occur.
In genetically-engineered female mice which lacked the p53 gene, levels of LIF in the womb were reduced around four-fold. Mice without p53 had significantly lower rates of embryonic transplantation, pregnancy success and litter size. When LIF was injected into p53-deficient females, the number of successful pregnancies increased significantly.
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