Federal Project Grant Award Summary

Midwestern University received a $489,777 Project Grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) under the Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research program (CFDA 93.865), effective July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2029. The research initiative, conducted at the university's Glendale, Arizona campus, focuses on identifying signaling molecules that function during fertilization and egg activation. The project employs a sea star model system to investigate the molecular mechanisms linking sperm-egg interaction to embryonic development initiation, specifically examining how this interaction triggers cell cycle progression and zygotic genome activation.

The research deliverables include the identification and characterization of signaling pathway components through expression of fusion proteins derived from known signaling molecules (SRC1, SRC3, and phospholipase C). The project will employ tandem mass spectrometry and amino acid sequencing to identify interacting proteins, followed by cDNA cloning and database analysis using a newly published sea star egg transcriptome. These efforts are expected to produce a library of molecular tools and a comprehensive map of tyrosine-phosphorylated proteins involved in fertilization signaling, advancing fundamental understanding of reproductive biology and early embryonic development mechanisms relevant to child health and human development.