2024 BIST Ignite Project: FertEye

Project overview

As the age of first-time mothers rises and the demand for assisted reproduction grows, the need for greater knowledge and more therapeutic options continues to increase. A key measure of fertility is the ovarian reserve, which reflects reproductive potential based on the quantity and quality of remaining eggs. Current methods rely on signal molecules produced by growing follicles, rather than dormant follicles, which make up the majority–potentially limiting their accuracy.

Recently, findings have shown that dormant oocytes suppress Complex I of the electron transport chain and maintain redox balance through alternative methods. Building on this knowledge, FertEye aims to develop a novel method to assess ovarian reserve using hyperpolarized nuclear magnetic resonance (HP-MR). By amplifying NMR signals up to 100,000 times, HP-MR enables real-time, non-invasive metabolic tracking of pyruvate usage, offering a potentially more precise alternative for evaluating ovarian reserve.

To advance the research, the FertEye team will: (1) identify molecular signatures of dormant oocytes, mature oocytes, and somatic cells; (2) determine HP-MR’s resolution in frog ovaries; and (3) evaluate the protocol’s precision in detecting primordial oocytes in mice. In this way, the study combines expertise in the fields of biomedical engineering and reproductive biology, with the aim of advancing fertility assessment through cutting-edge metabolic imaging.