As an “incubator” for next generation scientists and medical doctors, Ye Lab is consisted of graduate students, undergraduate students, and the PI, and focused on basic research in Female Reproductive Biology and Reproductive Toxicology.
Research
Endocrine signaling within the female reproductive tract.
Estrogen (E2) and Progesterone (P4), the ovarian sex hormones, serve as master regulators of female reproductive tract development and function. The regulatory actions of these hormones are primarily modulated via their respective receptors, estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR). Both ERs and PRs act as key regulators of gene transcription in the female reproductive tract, and their signaling is essential for reproductive function and pregnancy. To further elucidate key functions of these receptors and to address female fertility issues, our lab utilizes conditional knockout mouse models of ER and PR within key compartments of the female reproductive tract. Using these models, we can assess critical functions of ER and PR during the mouse estrous cycle (menstrual cycle equivalent) and early pregnancy, potentially informing us of key connections to female fertility issues. Some potential hormonally regulated uterine functions that our lab is interested in include uterine fluid trafficking during early pregnancy, immune response of the uterus during early pregnancy, and disruption of hormone signaling in endometrial pathologies such as endometriosis.
Adverse reproductive outcomes due to exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs).
Whether we like it or not, our environment is contaminated with numerous chemicals and pollutants that can wreak havoc on our bodies. Some of these chemicals can directly interfere with essential endocrine signaling in the female body, known as endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). Some EDCs are further characterized by the ability to interfere with estrogen (E2) signaling or progesterone (P4) signaling, estrogenic EDCs (EEDCs) or progestogenic EDCs (PEDCs), respectively. Chronic or even acute exposure to these chemicals can result in deleterious effects to female fertility, potentially jeopardizing long-term reproductive health. Our lab has previously examined the negative effects of zearalenone (ZEA) and its ability to act as an EEDC, resulting in disrupted cyclicity and impaired fertility in mice. More recently, we are employing use of diethylstilbestrol (DES), mifepristone (RU486), and other ER/PR agonists/antagonists to examine the direct effect of endocrine signaling disruption on female mice.
Investigating the functions of Ras homolog family member A (RhoA) in the female reproductive tract.
One of the remaining mysteries of reproductive biology is how the endometrium senses and communicates with the embryo. We hypothesized that Ras homolog family member A (RhoA), a small GTPase, could potentially serve as a mechanosensor in the uterine epithelium during embryo implantation. Some of our previous research determined that deficient levels of RhoA in the mouse ovary results in impaired development of the transient endocrine gland of the ovary, the corpus luteum, and that this impaired development leads to progesterone deficiency. Unfortunately, we have been unable to isolate epithelial specific functions of RhoA although current research in our lab has begun to elucidate uterine functions of RhoA that implicate its importance to hormonal response, embryo development and transport, and embryo implantation.
These are just some of the brief overviews of exciting projects that are ongoing in our lab. If you are interested in reading more of our lab’s work, please check out our publications: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/myncbi/xiaoqin.ye.1/bibliography/42394872/public/?page=1
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Techniques routinely employed in our lab:
- Immunohistochemistry/immunofluorescence
- Tissue histology (fixation, embedding, etc.)
- Vaginal cytology
- Ovariectomies
- Vasectomies
- Necropsy (for tissue collection)
- Animal husbandry
- Genotyping & polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
- Real-time PCR (qPCR)
- mRNA-sequencing and analysis
Meet our Team
Dr. Xiaoqin Ye
Principal Investigator (PI)
- Dr. Ye obtained her MD from Beijing Medical University, MPH from the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine, and PhD from the University of California at Riverside. She has a passion for reproductive biology researching the molecular mechanism of embryo implantation and effects of endocrine disruptors on pregnancy. She teaches Molecular Toxicology (VPHY 8960) and Critical Reading of the Primary Scientific Literature (GRSC 8020) here at UGA.
