Cytokine knockouts in reproduction: the use of gene ablation to dissect roles of cytokines in reproductive biology,”Human Reproduction Update

Cytokines play many diverse and important roles in reproductive biology, and dissecting the complex interactions between these proteins and the different reproductive organs is a difficult task. One approach is to use gene ablation, or ‘knockout’, to analyse the effect of deletion of a single cytokine on mouse reproductive function. This review sum-marizes the essential roles of cytokines in reproductive biology that have been revealed by gene knockout studies, including development and regulation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-gondal axis, ovarian folliculogenesis, implan-tation and immune system modulation during pregnancy. However, successful utilization of this approach must con-sider the caveats associated with gene ablation studies, e.g. embryonic lethality, systemic effects of cytokine ablation on local reproductive processes and the limited exposure to pathogens in mice housed in laboratory conditions. New soph-isticated technology that temporally or spatially regulates gene ablation can overcome some of these limitations. Dis-coveries on the roles of cytokines in reproductive function uncovered by gene ablation studies can now be applied to improve in vitro fertilization for infertile couples and in the development of contraceptive therapies