Researchers Bart Westendorp and Marta de Ruijter-Villani from UMC Utrecht and the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Masoud Zamani Esteki from Maastricht University have received a grant of €800,000 from ZonMw to investigate a major cause of failed IVF treatments. The project focuses on errors in the embryo’s initial cell divisions, which play a major role in the failure to achieve pregnancy.
IVF (in vitro fertilisation) offers hope to couples struggling with fertility issues, but only around 30 per cent of treatments result in a successful pregnancy. A major cause of this low success rate is aneuploidy: abnormalities in the distribution of chromosomes during the very first cell divisions after fertilisation. These chromosomal errors can prevent an embryo from implanting properly or lead to a miscarriage or developmental problems.
This grant enables us to answer fundamental questions about the early stages of embryonic development and to contribute to improved IVF treatments.
The exact cause of these errors is not yet fully understood. Recent research suggests that so-called DNA replication stress may play a significant role in this process. If DNA replication does not proceed correctly during the first cell division, this could lead to damage to the chromosomes, preventing them from being distributed properly.
In the new project, the researchers are using advanced microscopy and molecular genome analysis to gain a better understanding of how replication stress arises in the early stages following fertilisation and how often this leads to chromosomal abnormalities in human embryos.
In addition, they are investigating, using a veterinary IVF model, whether replication stress can be reduced and, consequently, chromosomal abnormalities prevented. The results may provide new avenues for making IVF treatments more successful in the future.
Principal investigator Bart Westendorp is delighted with the award of the grant and the collaboration between the research institutions. “This grant gives us the opportunity to address fundamental questions about the early stages of embryonic development with a strong interdisciplinary team. By pooling our expertise, we hope to gain a better understanding of why chromosomal abnormalities arise and ultimately contribute to improved IVF treatments.”
