Marie Curie Actions: Inspiring Researchers - Imdea

says Dr López-Béjar. Underlining how his fi ndings might haveimplications for human medicine, he adds, ‘Under-nutrition,on the other hand, can lead to anovulatory infertility in women,where the ovaries fail to release a germ cell. Similarly, aprolonged negative energy balance in cows affects folliculargrowth and development.’The regime of a ruminantWhile many dietary factors can impact upon fertility-relatedmatters in cows, the Oestrogen Receptor project focused onthe link between growth factors and fertility. Usually, the term‘growth factor’ refers to a protein or hormone that stimulatescellular growth. Some growth factors, fi rst and foremostthe insulin-like growth factor (IGF), play a role in regulatingovarian function, uterine and placental growth and earlyfoetal growth during pregnancy. ‘The IGF system is relatedto nutritional and metabolic processes in both animals andhumans,’ Dr López-Béjar says. ‘Our hypothesis is that theIGF system regulates ovarian function throughout activationof the oestrogen receptor. Therefore, the oestrogen receptorcould be an indirect marker of fertility.’Using the research conducted during a previous Marie CurieFellowship at the University of Nottingham in the UK as astarting point, Dr López-Béjar found further evidence of theintricate link between fertility and the insulin-like growth factorsystem. His fi ndings indicate that an animal’s feed might indeedbe part of the solution to infertility in dairy cows, and that byadapting nutritional content, farmers may be able to bringthe problem under control. What is more, ‘the results aredirectly relevant to other species, including certain humanovarian pathologies involving abnormal follicular maturation,’Dr López-Béjar stresses.A smooth start back at homeExcellent research conditions, direct collaboration withoutstanding institutions and exceptional scientists have allcontributed to this outcome, which may be of interest outsidethe dairy industry in light of the possible solutions to humaninfertility problems that could surface as research progresses.These ideal work conditions might not have been as easy to setup without support from the Marie Curie programme, Dr López-102