A theoretically based STEM talent development program that bridges excellence gaps.

The pipeline of highly trained STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) professionals has narrowed in recent decades, forcing society to re-examine how schools are discovering and developing STEM talent. Of particular concern is the finding that rural students attend post-secondary schools at lower rates than their urban counterparts, and when they do attend, they are less likely to graduate from STEM programs. One reason may be that they are not prepared for advanced STEM coursework because they lack access to essential STEM talent-development programs in middle or high school.

Adenovirus-directed expression of functional luteinizing hormone (LH) receptors in undifferentiated rat granulosa cells: evidence for differential signaling through follicle-stimulating hormone and LH receptors.

This study was conducted to determine the feasibility of using replication-defective adenovirus vectors to express receptors for LH. Two vectors were constructed, one that directs the expression of wild-type human LH receptor (LHr; AdRSVLHrwt) and another that directs the expression of the constitutively activated D578H mutant human LH receptor (AdRSVD578HLHr). When infected with AdRSVwtLHr and AdRSVD578HLHr, COS-1 cells expressed LH/hCG-binding sites as reflected by specific binding of [(125)I]hCG.

Developmental expression of Ca++/Mg++-dependent endonuclease activity in rat granulosa and luteal cells.

A Ca++/Mg++-sensitive endonuclease has been associated with programmed cell death in a variety of endocrine and non-endocrine dependent tissues. In view of the remarkable similarity of the process of the regression of the corpus luteum and other models of programmed cell death, we studied the occurrance of this endonuclease activity in granulosa cells at different developmental states and the corpus luteum. Our results show that while undifferentiated granulosa cells do not express this endonuclease activity, treatment with pregnant mares serum gonadotropin results in a rapid increase in endonuclease activity that is maintained following ovulation and luteinization of granulosa cells.