Holly Boettger-Tong

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Chair at Wesleyan College

Recombinant DNA technology has facilitated animal models that could be used to investigate candidate gene contributions to acquisition and retention. In practice, researchers focus on genetics or simple behaviors, rarely combining both or investigating genetic contributions to complex behaviors. We investigated inbred C57BL/6 and outbred CF1 mice’s...

Spatial reasoning is a valuable cognitive tool which enables navigation of the body in relation to other objects in space, permits deconstruction of dimensional forms, allows reconstruction of two-dimensional representations into three-dimensional objects, and facilitates diagramming of processes or concepts. A considerable body of work has suggest...

Numerous investigators have examined the hypothesis that males and females learn or perform differentially on various tasks. However, many of the behavioural investigations with nonhuman animals (e.g., rats) have used paradigms that do not permit the exploration of complex learning and memory between the sexes. To this end, we explored the ability...

Gene targeting via homologous recombination in mouse ES cells is now a routine method for addressing gene function in vivo. Several hundred genes mapping to all autosomes and the X chromosome have been mutated and analyzed in this way. In contrast, despite repeated attempts in several laboratories, including our own, there have been no reports of s...

In mice, the recessive, non-pleiotropic, juvenile spermatogonial depletion (jsd) mutation results in a single wave of spermatogenesis, followed by failure of type A spermatogonial stem cells to differentiate, rendering adult males sterile. As part of an effort to identify the gene underlying this mutation, we report here the construction of a high-...

The juvenile spermatogonial depletion (jsd) mutation results in spermatogonial arrest after the first wave of spermatogenesis. In homozygous jsd mice in a hybrid background (C3HxB6) that were identified with microsatellite markers, the percentage of tubules showing differentiating germ cells [tubule differentiation index (TDI)] rapidly decreased af...

The juvenile spermatogonial depletion (jsd) mutation results in spermatogonial arrest after the first wave of spermatogenesis. In homozygous jsd mice in a hybrid background (C3H×B6) that were identified with microsatellite markers, the percentage of tubules showing differentiating germ cells [tubule differentiation index (TDI)] rapidly decreased af...

A distinctive feature of gonadal maturation in mammals is the movement to an extraabdominal location. Testicular descent is a complex, multistage process whereby the embryonic gonads migrate from their initial abdominal position to the scrotum. Failure in this process results in cryptorchidism, a frequent congenital birth defect in humans. We repor...

To determine whether changes in the polymorphic trinucleotide (CAG) tract of the androgen receptor gene are associated with spermatogenic defects in patients with male infertility. Case-control study of two ethnic groups. University referral centers for male infertility at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, and National University Hospital...

The provision of a sufficient nutrient supply is a basic requirement for the growth, replication, and performance of differentiated function of all cells. In mammalian tissues the supply of nutrients is regulated largely by the vascular system, and some of the most dramatic changes in the mammalian vasculature occur in the female reproductive tract...

Estrogens increase the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) mRNA in the rodent uterus. This regulatory effect is rapid, beginning within 1 hr after hormone treatment, dose dependent, and blocked by the pure antiestrogen ICI 182,780. The induction of the transcript is blocked by inhibitors of RNA but not of protein synthesis, and...

In mice, the juvenile spermatogonial depletion (jsd) mutation results in a single wave of spermatogenesis followed by failure of type A spermatogonial stem cells to repopulate the testis, rendering male animals sterile. It is not clear whether the defect in jsd resides in a failure of the somatic component to support spermatogenesis or in a failure...

In mice, the juvenile spermatogonial depletion (jsd) mutation results in a single wave of spermatogenesis followed by failure of type A spermatogonial stem cells to repopulate the testis, rendering male animals sterile. It is not clear whether the defect in jsd resides in a failure of the somatic component to support spermatogenesis or in a failure...

The recent transposition to the Y chromosome of the autosomal DAZL1 gene, potentially involved in germ cell development, created a unique opportunity to study the rate of Y chromosome evolution and assess the selective forces that may act upon such genes, and provided a new estimate of the male-to-female mutation rate (alpham). Two different Y-loca...

We recently noted that immature rats failed to exhibit a normal uterine response to exogenously administered estradiol as assessed by both biochemical (induction of gene expression) and morphological (altered uterine and vaginal histology and size) end points. An initial analysis suggested that this was due to a high degree of estrogenization from...

In an effort to produce a more complete transcription map of the short (approximately 5 Mb) arm of the mouse Y chromosome, we have initiated exon trapping from Yp-derived YACs. Sequence analysis of the trapped products has identified exons of previously cloned mouse Y-located genes Zfy and SSty and potential exons homologous to the human Y-located...

Sequences homologous to human and bovine TSPY were isolated from M. musculus testicular cDNA, and a nearly full-length gene was polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplified from mouse genomic DNA. This gene is apparently non-functional. Contrary to the situation encountered in species along the primate and artiodactyl lineages, in which TSPY is modera...

Primary cultures of human uterine smooth muscle cells have been widely used as a model system to evaluate agents that may play a role in the regulation of both normal and abnormal proliferative responses. We have used this in vitro system to determine if human uterine smooth muscle cells are responsive to treatment with a potent natural derivative...

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is an endothelial-specific mitogen with potent angiogenic activity. Because vascular growth accompanies normal endometrial regeneration and may also be involved in uterine tumor growth, we studied VEGF regulation by 17 beta-estradiol (E2) and tamoxifen, two agents that can increase uterine cell proliferatio...

Previous biochemical studies have shown that c-fos mRNA expression is rapidly and dramatically induced by estrogen in the immature rat uterus. In this work we have used in situ hybridization and immunocytochemistry to analyze the cellular pattern of proto-oncogene induction following administration of estradiol. The c-fos transcript and protein lev...

Previous biochemical studies have shown that c-fos mRNA expression is rapidly and dramatically induced by estrogen in the immature rat uterus. In this work we have used in situ hybridization and immunocytochemistry to analyze the cellular pattern of proto-oncogene induction following administration of estradiol. The c-fos transcript and protein lev...

Many naturally occurring and man-made chemicals present in the environment possess estrogenic activity. Examples include plant and fungal products, pesticides, plasticizers, and other agricultural and industrial chemicals. These environmental estrogens as well as endogenous ovarian estrogens are thought to initiate their physiological actions in ta...

Retinoic acid, a potent natural derivative of vitamin A, influences proliferation in many cell types. However, little is known about the role of retinoic acid in estrogen-induced proliferation in normal physiological systems. In this study we sought to determine if in vivo administration of retinoic acid influences the proliferation of a normal est...

Retinoic acid, a potent natural derivative of vitamin A, influences proliferation in many cell types. However, little is known about the role of retinoic acid in estrogen-induced proliferation in normal physiological systems. In this study we sought to determine if in vivo administration of retinoic acid influences the proliferation of a normal est...

Estrogen-stimulated endometrial proliferation is an important preparatory event for implantation and is thought to be initiated by estrogen receptor (E-R)-mediated changes in gene expression. Many laboratories have thus focused on the biochemical nature of E-R interactions and how this complex interacts with the consensus estrogen response element...

Proteinase inhibitors are present in the various glands, tissues, and secretions of the male reproductive tract. Some of these inhibitors bind to the acrosomal region of the sperm, and their release during in vitro or in utero incubation suggests that they may play a role in capacitation. In the mouse, the binding site for a trypsin-acrosin inhibit...

Murine sperm bind a proteinase inhibitor of seminal vesicle origin at ejaculation. The inhibitor binds in the acrosomal region of the sperm head and is removed during in utero or in vitro incubation. Adding inhibitor to sperm reduces their ability to bind zonae, while adding the purified inhibitor binding site to cumulus-free, zona-intact oocytes r...

A monoclonal antibody (J-23) to the 15 kDa component on the sperm head, the acceptor, which functions in zona binding, was shown to induce the acrosome reaction in capacitated cells, but not in fresh cells. The antibody recognized its epitope in the acrosomal cap region of fresh spermatozoa and in the equatorial region on washed and capacitated spe...

ZP3, a glycoprotein of the murine zona pellucida, functions both to bind acrosome intact sperm and to induce the acrosome reaction. Solubilized whole zonae as well as purified ZP3 are able to induce acrosome reactions in capacitated sperm. Pronase digests of whole zonae yield glycopeptides that bind to sperm but are unable to induce acrosome reacti...

Murine cauda epididymal sperm possess a site, the acceptor, on the plasma membrane over the apical cap region of the acrosome which recognizes both a proteinase inhibitor of seminal vesicle origin and homologous zonae. The acceptor site may participate in both capacitation and zona binding. This presentation explores the effect of in vitro incubati...

A monoclonal antibody, J-23, was produced to an epitope of a binding (acceptor) component on the plasma membrane in the acrosomal cap region of the mouse sperm head. The component binds a proteinase inhibitor of seminal vesicle origin at ejaculation and participates in the in vitro binding of capacitated sperm to the zona pellucida. The antibody, a...

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1992. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [121]-124).