Areas of Interest
I am interested in cell signaling events that regulate oocyte
maturation and fertilization. Recently, we have been using
cultured mouse ovarian follicles to study the maintenance of
meiotic arrest, as well as how luteinizing hormone (LH)
overcomes this arrest to signal the oocyte to mature into a
fertilized egg. The maintenance of meiotic arrest involves the
G-protein coupled receptor, GPR3, that stimulates a Gs
G-protein. Gs activation results in an increase in oocyte cAMP,
which leads to meiotic arrest. We are examining Gs and GPR3
activity using fluorescently labeled proteins, dominant negative
approaches, RNAi, and knockout mice.
Selected Publications
Mehlmann, L.M. 2005. Stops and Starts in Mammalian Oocytes:
Recent Advances in Understanding the Regulation of Meiotic
Arrest and Oocyte Maturation. Reproduction: 130: 791-798.
Mehlmann, L.M., and Jaffe, L.A. 2005. SH2 domain-mediated
activation of a SRC family kinase is not required to initiate
Ca2+ release at fertilization in mouse eggs. Reproduction: 129:
557-564.
Freudzon, L., Norris, R.P., Hand, A.R., Tanaka, S., Saeki,
Y., Jones, T.L.Z., Rasenick, M.M., Berlot, C.H., Mehlmann, L.M.,
and Jaffe, L.A. 2005. Regulation of meiotic prophase arrest in
mouse oocytes by GPR3, a constitutive activator of the Gs G
protein. J. Cell Biol. 171:255-265.
Mehlmann, L.M. 2005. Oocyte-specific expression of Gpr3 is
required for the maintenance of meiotic arrest in mouse oocytes.
Dev. Biol. 288:397-404.
Mehlmann, L.M., Saeki, Y., Tanaka, S., Brennan, T.J., Evsikov,
A.V. Pendola, F.L., Knowles, B.B., Eppig, J.J., and Jaffe, L.A.
2004. The Gs-linked receptor GPR3 maintains meiotic
arrest in mammalian oocytes. Science. 306:1947-50.
Kalinowski, R.R., Berlot, C.H., Jones, T.L.Z., Ross, L.F.,
Jaffe, L.A., and Mehlmann, L.M. 2004. Maintenance of meiotic
prophase arrest in vertebrate oocytes by a Gs
protein-mediated pathway. Dev. Biol. 267: 1-13.
Mehlmann, L.M., Jones, T.L.Z., and Jaffe, L.A. 2002. Meiotic
arrest in the mouse follicle maintained by a Gs
protein in the oocyte. Science 297:1343-1345.
Runft, L.L., Jaffe, L.A., and Mehlmann, L.M. 2002. Egg
activation at fertilization: Where it all begins. Dev. Biol.
245:237-254.
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