Thomas Cherpes
Ohio State University, OH·Medicine & Clinical Research
About half of women past menopause develop genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM), which causes vaginal dryness and painful sex. GSM happens because the body stops making estrogen.
- Fields
Medicine & Clinical Research
Microbiology & Immunology
Biology
- Topics
genitourinary syndrome of menopause
postmenopausal women
vaginal epithelium
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Jun 2027
What they work on
- Define how desmosomes, protein 'rivets' between cells, maintain the vaginal lining and its barrier, by deleting the desmosome protein desmoplakin in keratin 5-expressing cells of tamoxifen-inducible mice.
- Compare vaginal moisture, barrier function and infection susceptibility in ovariectomized mice treated in the vagina with estrogen or with an EFNA3-mimetic peptide that copies the signaling protein ephrin-A3.
- Test whether the EFNA3-mimetic peptide protects the vaginal barrier through the EphA2 receptor, using EphA2 knockout mice and mice given EphA2-blocking antibodies or signaling inhibitors.
- Enroll 20 postmenopausal women with genitourinary syndrome of menopause to measure how topical estrogen changes vaginal moisture, epithelial barrier function and other markers of tissue health.
More about the research
It is often missed and seldom treated. Estrogen applied to the vaginal tissue relieves GSM, but fewer than 5% of U.S. women with GSM use it. Use fell after a 2002 report tied hormone therapy to breast cancer and heart disease, risks that newer data suggest were overstated. Better evidence on how estrogen keeps vaginal tissue healthy could change how often it is used.
Why it matters
The work could give doctors and postmenopausal women solid scientific reasons to use topical estrogen for genitourinary syndrome of menopause, a common, undertreated condition. Showing how estrogen and ephrin signaling maintain the vaginal barrier may also point to new treatment targets, such as the EFNA3-mimicking peptide.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Victoria Handa
Johns Hopkins University, MD·Medicine & Clinical Research
Measure how vaginal estrogen therapy changes the vaginal and urinary microbiota, especially specific Lactobacillus species such as L. crispatus, in postmenopausal women with recurrent UTI, using 16S rRNA gene sequencing before and after treatment.
Brandilyn Peters
Albert Einstein College of Medicine, NY·Public Health & Epidemiology
Determine how 12 weeks of transdermal estradiol, with or without progesterone, changes the gut microbiome of women with HIV in the randomized HoT trial, using shotgun metagenomic sequencing of stool samples.
James Pru
University of Wyoming, WY·Physiology
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.
The school
Ohio State University: 71 labs on PI Pages, $1.6B a year on research, 882 research doctorates a year.
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