On May 26, PNAS, a journal of the American Academy of Sciences, published the research results of Prof. YUAN Shuiqiao, Institute of Reproductive Health, Tongji Medical College, in cooperation with the University of California Medical College and the University of Nevada Medical College. The Paper is titled with Oviductal Motile Cilia Are Essential for Oocyte Pickup but Dispensable for Sperm and Embryo Transport”.

The oviduct is essential for female fertility due to its two main functions: transport and nourishment. While the nourishment role is mainly fulfilled by secretory cells, the relative contribution to the transport function by ciliated cells and smooth muscle cells remains controversial. Here, Prof. YUAN and his team show that functional motile cilia in the infundibulum are essential for oocyte pickup and transport, whereas motile cilia in the ampulla and isthmus regions of the oviduct facilitate gamete and embryo transport but are dispensable for female fertility. Knowledge derived from the present study may have important clinical implications in the areas including development of nonhormonal female contraceptives, understanding the cause of ectopic pregnancy and high-grade serous ovarian cancer, etc.

Prof. YUSN Shuiqiao is the first and co-author of this paper, which is another high-level research achievement after he published important research results in PNAS and Nature Communications in 2019.Prof. YUAN is an overseas talent introduced by the Institute of Reproductive Health through the East Lake Forum in 2016, and has won two general projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China.Five years after returning to China, he has published more than 20 papers as the first/corresponding author, which has played a positive role in promoting the scientific research work of the Institute of Reproductive Health.

Paper Lingkage:https://www.pnas.org/content/118/22/e2102940118