We are interested in glucose transporter biology as it relates to the mammalian preimplantation embryo and its unique adaptive metabolism.

In particular, we investigate murine blastocyst expression and regulation of the facilitative glucose transporters or GLUTs.

We are also interested in how changes in embryonic glucose transport and metabolism trigger the apoptotic cascade in the blastocyst. Metabolic control of apoptosis is also explored in other cell systems, including ES and TS cells.

Other topics of interest include insulin- and IGF-1-stimulated signalling pathways in the embryo, t-SNARE and v-SNARE expression and function in the blastocyst, and subcellular localization of the novel glucose transporters, such as GLUT7, GLUT9, GLUT10 and GLUT12, within the blastocyst, as well as in cell culture systems. We are also curious as to how these biological events are altered in embryos exposed to the maternal endocrinopathies of insulin- and non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus and polycystic ovary syndrome.