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Protein found responsible for conception and infertility in women
Last reviewed: 30.06.2025
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Scientists have found a protein, a deficiency of which prevents the uterus from holding an embryo, and an excess of which prevents conception.
Researchers from Imperial College London (UK) tried to understand the unexplained infertility of 106 women. All the usual reasons for constant failures were tested and rejected by doctors, and the women either could not get pregnant at all or suffered from constant miscarriages. Scientists found that in some patients, the epithelial cells lining the uterus contain an increased amount of the enzyme SGK1; all attempts to get pregnant in these women ended in failure. On the other hand, those who had a significantly reduced level of the enzyme always had miscarriages in the end.
To confirm the connection between SGK1 and infertility, the researchers conducted several experiments. Mice that were given an extra copy of the SGK1 gene were indeed unable to produce offspring. At the same time, the level of the SGK1 enzyme in normal animals dropped during the breeding season. From this, it was concluded that an elevated level of SGK1 makes the uterine cells unprepared to accept an embryo. On the one hand, this allows the development of a new type of contraceptive that would temporarily increase the content of this enzyme, making conception impossible. On the other hand, it opens the way to a new method of treating infertility: it is necessary to create a drug that reduces the level of SGK1.
However, too much of a drop in the level of this enzyme is also fraught with negative consequences, the authors report in the journal Nature Medicine. When the formation of SGK1 in mice was artificially blocked, the animals had no problems with conception, but they had difficulty bearing offspring. Bleeding was found in the uterus, and the number of offspring dropped sharply. Scientists linked this to the fact that in such a case, the cells of the shedding uterine membrane, which is formed after fertilization and implantation of the embryo, lose the ability to withstand oxidative stress. The SGK1 enzyme is apparently necessary to protect cells from oxygen radicals. The inability to withstand oxidative stress leads to the uterus not being able to hold the embryo.
Thus, the SGK1 enzyme turned out to be a rather subtle instrument that determines the readiness of a woman's body for conception and pregnancy. According to statistics, one in six women suffers from infertility, and every hundredth has problems with constant miscarriages. Perhaps, if doctors can learn to carefully change the level of this enzyme, it will be possible to cope with both problems at once.
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