Early Career Academic (Discovery Researcher) Prize

^{Pictured above: Dr Wei Zhou}

Dr Wei Zhou has been awarded a Melbourne Medical School 2024 Publication Prize for Early Career Academic (Discovery Researcher),  for his research topic Dysregulated Mir-124-3p in Endometrial Epithelial Cells Reduces 5 Endometrial Receptivity by Altering Polarity and Adhesion.

Dr Zhou will present his research at  the Melbourne Medical School (MMS) Research Symposium in November  2024 along with the other publication awardees.

Dr Zhou's was awarded this prestigious prize for the publication:

W. Zhou, M. Van Sinderen, K. Rainczuk, E. Menkhorst, K. Sorby, T. Osianlis, M. Pangestu, L. Santos, L. Rombauts, A. Rosello-Diez, E. Dimitriadis, Dysregulated miR-124-3p in endometrial epithelial cells reduces endometrial receptivity by altering polarity and adhesion, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 121 (41) e2401071121, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2401071121 (2024).

Uterine receptivity is essential for embryo implantation and successful pregnancy. Failed implantation due to impaired uterine receptivity significantly contributes to infertility, yet no tests currently identify endometrial-driven infertility. In this study, we demonstrated that microRNA-124-3p is abnormally elevated in the uterine epithelium of women with infertility during the receptive phase. We developed two models: a genetically inducible, uterine epithelium-specific microRNA-124-3p overexpression mouse model and a 3-dimensional human embryo trophectoderm-endometrial cell coculture model. Using these models, we showed that elevated microRNA-124-3p in both mice and humans disrupted endometrial epithelial cell adhesion and polarity, preventing the uterine epithelium from transitioning to a receptive state. This research identifies microRNA-124-3p as a diagnostic and therapeutic target for endometrial-driven infertility.