James Pru
University of Wyoming, WY·Physiology
Women whose ovaries age early have higher risks of other diseases. Women with premature ovarian insufficiency (POI), an early loss of normal ovarian function, have at least twice the risk of heart disease.
- Fields
Physiology
Biology
Medicine & Clinical Research
- Topics
progesterone receptor membrane component
estradiol
estrogen
- Grants
- 2 known grants, through Mar 2027
What they work on
- Measure PGRMC1 and PGRMC2 levels across the lifespan in 12 major mouse organs that regulate healthspan, to test whether these proteins can serve as markers of fertility and overall health.
- Delete or overproduce PGRMC genes only in the female reproductive tract of mice, then assess frailty, body composition, healthspan, cellular senescence and cancer, to link reproductive health to whole-body health.
- Determine how PGRMC1 overproduction affects female fertility and the development of endometrial hyperplasia (overgrowth of the uterine lining) and endometrial cancer, using a new transgenic mouse.
- Test whether PGRMC1 drives estradiol-induced growth of endometrial epithelial cells by switching them to Warburg-like glycolysis, using primary cell cultures and mouse models of epithelial proliferation.
- Test whether PGRMC1 supports estradiol-driven growth through RNA-binding proteins that process mRNAs and route them to polyribosomes, using proteomics, RNA-seq and CLIP-seq (which maps protein binding sites on RNA).
More about the research
This suggests that reproductive health and overall health are linked. Both projects center on two proteins, PGRMC1 and PGRMC2 (progesterone receptor membrane components). These proteins are thought to carry out some actions of the hormone progesterone. Yet they are found in nearly all tissues and are evolutionarily older than steroid hormone signaling, so they likely have other jobs too. The lab engineered mice in which these genes can be deleted only in reproductive tissues, using a system called Pgr-Cre. Losing either gene, or overproducing PGRMC1, caused reduced fertility that progressed to early reproductive aging and a POI-like state. One project asks whether PGRMC levels can mark fertility and overall health. The other asks how these proteins drive growth of the uterine lining.
Why it matters
Women with premature ovarian insufficiency face higher risks of heart disease and other conditions. If PGRMC protein levels track fertility and health status, they could become markers for spotting reproductive and whole-body aging earlier. Mechanistic insight into how PGRMC1 drives estrogen-fueled growth of the uterine lining may help in developing ways to reduce how often estrogen-driven endometrial diseases occur, or how severe they are. These include endometrial hyperplasia and endometrial cancer, where PGRMC1 is elevated and linked to chemotherapy resistance.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Amanda Kallen
University of Vermont, VT·Genetics
Chart the ovarian aging process in genetically diverse Collaborative Cross mouse strains with low Anti-Müllerian hormone and reduced fertility by measuring ovarian reserve, hormones, follicle development and molecular aging markers.
Diana Monsivais
Baylor College of Medicine, TX·Medicine & Clinical Research
Define how retinoic acid production by ALDH1A1 and ALDH1A3 controls stem cell regeneration and maturation in the endometrium, using new creERT2-tdTomato reporter mice for lineage tracing and transcriptomic studies in endometrial organoids.
Suryavathi Viswanadhapalli
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, TX·Medicine & Clinical Research
Determine how LIF/LIFR signaling, a growth-factor pathway linked to poor survival, drives endometrial cancer progression, using global genomic approaches in endometrial cancer cells.
The school
University of Wyoming: 8 labs on PI Pages, $167M a year on research, 108 research doctorates a year.
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