Many chemotherapy drugs cause female infertility by permanently shutting down the ovaries. In pre-pubescent girls, this can also result in abnormal sexual development. It is known that many of these harmful chemotherapy drugs bind to cKIT receptors throughout the body. cKIT receptors exist in particularly high concentrations in the ovaries and when they are blocked by chemotherapy drugs, premature ovarian failure results. Our experiment uses a transgenic mouse model to evaluate the effects of cKIT receptors on oocyte formation and development. This experiment is part of a larger effort to understand the mechanisms by which chemotherapy drugs cause premature ovarian failure.https://digitalcommons.unmc.edu/surp2021/1024/thumbnail.jp
