AN “INFERTILITY molecule” that influences whether embryos implant in the womb has been discovered, offering the hope of new treatments for women who have difficulty conceiving.

Researchers in the United States have found that mice lacking the molecule, known as an LPA receptor, have difficulty becoming pregnant, even though their eggs are readily fertilised. As the same receptors are active in the human womb, the findings offer potentially valuable insights into a common cause of childlessness.

If the LPA receptor also affects human embryo implantation, drugs could be designed to manipulate its action to improve pregnancy rates. The discovery, which is published today in the journal Nature, emerged as a spin-off from research into the role of a class of fats known as phospholipids, which play an important signalling role in many cells.

The LPA receptor molecule binds to a type of phospholipid — lysophosphatidic acid, or LPA. Scientists at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, initially were studying its role in the brain. A team led by Jerold Chun created mice in which the gene for the LPA receptor was knocked out to examine its role in the brain, and noticed that the mice that lacked LPA receptors had serious fertility problems.

“This is a receptor that wasn’t on anyone’s radar screen from a fertility standpoint,” Dr Chun said. “These results offer new insights on lipid signals and fertility.

“Here is a clear effect on the ability of embryos to implant and position normally. It identifies a new molecular influence — a small fat molecule — on this whole process.”

The loss of LPA receptors appeared to affect levels of prostaglandin, a fatty acid essential for embryo implantation.

In another development, human eggs have been grown in the laboratory from cells scraped from the surface of the ovary.

Scientists from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, took surface cells from the ovaries of five women. These were grown for five to six days, either with or without exposure to a growth-stimulating oestrogen medium called phenol red.

Cells cultured without the growth medium differentiated into immature small cells of various types. However, those grown in the presence of phenol red transformed into large, egg-like cells. They went on to become mature human eggs apparently capable of being fertilised and developing into an embryo.

The findings are published in Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology.

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