Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research

About: Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research is a based out in . It is known for research contribution in the topics: Estrone & Estrogen. The organization has 2195 authors who have published 2646 publications receiving 115809 citations. The organization is also known as: Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology.

Fertilization of Hamster Eggs in vitro

Abstract: FERTILIZATION of rabbit eggs in vitro has been reported by many workers in recent years and Austin1 concluded that “success seems most likely to have been attained by Smith (1951), Dauzier et al. (1954), Dauzier and Thibault (1959), Thibault et al. (1954), Thibault and Dauzier (1960), Moricard (1954 a, b), and, particularly, Chang (1959)”. So far as is known, no authentic successful experiments to fertilize rodent eggs in vitro have been reported1–4. This communication describes a repeatable technique to fertilize the eggs of the golden hamster (Mesocricetus auratus) in vitro, and the results obtained by this technique.

Metabolic regulation in mammalian sperm: mitochondrial volume determines sperm length and flagellar beat frequency.

Abstract: In the absence of glycolytic support, mammalian sperm derive their energy for motility from a densely packed array of mitochondria at the base of the flagellum known as the midpiece. Using data on the morphometric dimensions of over 200 mammalian species, we found that an allometric relationship exists between midpiece length (Lm) and flagellum length (Lf). Specifically, the length of the mid-piece varies approximately as the 3/2 power of the flagellar length although the proportionality constant is different for eutherian and marsupial sperm. In contrast, when we corrected for the fraction of the midpiece that was taken up by mitochondria, a single linear correlation between mitochondrial volume and flagellar length for all mammals was found. These allometric relationships were used along with basic flagellar hydrodynamic theories to establish a unifying equation that predicted flagellar frequencies for any mammalian sperm between 40 microns and 200 microns in length. These findings imply that, at least in mammals, the mechanisms for energy production and dissipation in sperm flagella are highly conserved.

Elevated "hydroxyl radical" generation in vivo in an animal model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Abstract: Mutations in the enzyme copper/zinc superoxide dismutase-1 (SOD1) are associated with familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (FALS). The means by which the mutations cause FALS appears to be due to an adverse property of the mutant SOD1 protein that may involve increased generation of free radicals. We used in vivo microdialysis to measure the conversion of 4-hydroxybenzoic acid to 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid (3,4-DHBA) as a measure of “hydroxyl radical-like” production in transgenic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) mice with the G93A mutation as well as littermate controls. The conversion of 4-hydroxybenzoic acid to 3,4-DHBA was significantly increased in the striatum of transgenic ALS mice at baseline but not in mice overexpressing wild-type human SOD1. Following administration of 3-nitropropionic acid 3,4-DHBA generation was significantly increased as compared with baseline, and the increase in the transgenic ALS mice was significantly greater than those in controls, whereas the increase in mice overexpressing wild-type human SOD1 was significantly attenuated. The present results provide in vivo evidence that expression of mutations in SOD1 can lead to increased generation of “hydroxyl radical-like” activity, which further implicates oxidative damage in the pathogenesis of ALS.