ROLE OF UTERINE IMMUNE CELLS IN ESTABLISHMENT OF PREGNANCY IN RUMINANTS

This project addresses infertility in the dairy industry, which costs dairy producers more than $500M annually. Furthermore, these results will be extendable to the beef, sheep and goat industries as the physiology of early pregnnacy in these species is similar to dairy cattle. A majority of embryo loss occurs during the first 4 weeks of pregnancy and a portion of these losses are thought to be immune-mediated. There is relativley little known about how the the early embryo affects the abundance immune cells at the fetal-maternal interface in the uterus. We will address this gap in knowledge in these experiments by determining if the substantial difference in fertility between dairy heifers and mature lactating dairy cows is mediated by differences in immune cell response to conceptus signals. Furthermore, we will deterime the effects of two key signaling molecules released by the embryo on uterine immmune cell function. Both of these molecules have been known to science for over 30 years, but their effects on uterine immune cells is largely unknown. Understanding the effects of these proteins on immune function may lead to strategies to reduce early embryo loss and thereby improve reproductive efficiency and profitability of the dairy industry. By improving efficiency, results of these studies contibute to reducing the environmental impact of the dairy industry.