Reproduktiivbioloogia uurimisrühm on keskendunud eelkõige naisepoolse viljatuse molekulaarsete tekkepõhjuste ja diagnostika võimaluste uurimisele. Peamiseks eesmärgiks on kirjeldada rakkudevahelisi molekulaarseid interaktsioone munasarjas ning leida faktorid, mis võimaldaksid eristada arenguvõimelist munarakku hukkumisele määratutest. Uurimistemaatika jaguneb valdavalt kolmeks: (a) inimese munasarja bioloogia ja munasarjapõhise viljatuse uurimine; (b) keskkonnakemikaalide mõju munasarja toimimisele; (c) viljakuse säilitamise meetodite arendamine. Meetoditena kasutatakse kaasaegseid geeniekspressiooni ja rakupopulatsioonide kirjeldamise suundi: süvasekveneerimine, ühe raku analüüsid, funktsionaalsed katsed rakuliinides ja primaarsete rakkude kultuuris jne. Saadud andmeid analüüsitakse ja tulemusi modelleeritakse bioinformaatiliste algoritmide abil.Koostööd tehakse kõikide Eesti viljatusravi kliinikutega, kelle abiga kogutakse bioloogilist materjali (munasarja granuloosa rakud, munasarja biopsiad, follikulaarvedelik, vereproovid) viljakatelt ja viljatutelt naistelt ning Tervisetehnoloogiate Arenduskeskusega. et
Infertility is a worldwide problem with medical, socio-economical as well as psychologicalaspects. According to the European Society ofHuman Reproduction and Embryology, medicalintervention is sought for by 15% of couples whowish to conceive their biological offspring (www.eshre.eu).The Research Group of Reproductive Biology ismainly focused on the problems of female infertility and we investigate the biological processes inhuman ovary. Our main goal is to describe intercellular molecular interactions in the ovary andto find factors that would aid in discriminatingbetween viable and non-viable oocytes. Variousgenome-wide high-throughput technologies areused in our research: next-generation sequencing,proteomics and data analysis methods in the fieldof systems biology to mention a few. We collaborate with all infertility clinics in Estonia in orderto collect biological samples (ovarian granulosacells, ovarian biopsies, follicular fluid, and bloodsamples) from fertile and infertile women.The research group of reproductive biology ismainly focused on investigating the molecularorigins of female infertility and the possibilitiesfor diagnostics in the field. Our research subjectscan be divided into three categories:a. Research on human ovary and relatedetiologies of infertility.b. The effect of environmental chemicals onovarian function.c. Research on human endometrium andinvestigating the molecular disturbancesin the embryo implantation process.We collaborate closely with all infertility clinicsin Estonia as well as with the Competence Centeron Health Technologies.We use modern gene expression and cell population characterization methods: next generationsequencing, single cell technologies, functionalassays in cell-line and primary cell culturemodels, etc. The acquired data is analysed andmodelled by bioinformatic algorithms. en