Faculty and Research Interests

Anthony J. Zeleznik
Ph.D., University of Michigan

The principal focus of the Zeleznik laboratory is to understand the physiology and cell biology of ovarian cyclicity (follicular development and selection, luteinization and luteolysis) during the primate menstrual cycle. At the physiological level, we are using macaque monkeys to investigate the in vivo response of the ovaries to standardized infusion regimens of follicle stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone in the presence and absence of exogenous putative autocrine/paracrien agents such as insulin, insulin-like growth factor, testosterone, activin and other members of the TGF-� family to determine if any or all of theseputative non-gonadotropic regulators of ovarian function have demonstrable effects on the ovary in vivo.

At the cellular and molecular levels, we are interested in identifying the cellular signaling pathways used by FSH and LH to promote granulosa cell proliferation and differentiation. To accomplish this, we are using replication-defective adenovirus vectors to express constitutively active and dominant-negative and dominant-active mutants of gonadotropin receptors, protein kinases and transcription factors in cell culture and assess steroid production and mRNA's that encode for specialized proteins involved in granulosa cell proliferation and differentiation.

Representative Publications

Back to Faculty and Research Interests