Forschung
The research group investigates the immunologic and endocrine conditions necessary for the maintenance of early pregnancy. A dominant endocrine factor in that context is the human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). Most recently, we have started to follow folding of microdomains by monitoring the formation of immunologic epitopes during biosynthesis in connection with the formation of the disulfide bridges (funded by a DFG grant - Me545/12-1,2). The synthesis of this heterodimeric placental glycoprotein hormone is regulated by autocrine and paracrine placental factors like gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), gonadoliberin (GnRH) and high levels of the second messenger cAMP. We have shown that these factors have pleiotropic effects on the activity of the hCG subunit genes, the mRNA turnover and even on post-translational events, e. g., glycosylation. This let us study the GABA-A receptor subunit composition and GABA-A receptor activities in hCG producing cells as well as in tissues of the human reproductive organs in order to understand the complex regulation of factors involved in the establishment and maintenance of pregnancy.
