# Anti-Mullerian hormone for preserving ovarian function before administration of gonadotoxic therapies or after transplantation of cryopreserved tissue.

> **NIH NIH R01** · WEILL MEDICAL COLL OF CORNELL UNIV · 2024 · $360,781

## Abstract

Abstract
 A frequent side effect of chemotherapy is infertility and female patients newly diagnosed with cancer or
other malignancies are routinely counseled to undergo controlled ovarian hyper-stimulation as a means of
fertility preservation. For pre-pubertal girls or women requiring immediate chemotherapy, ovarian
hyperstimulation is unavailable and many of these patients opt to cryopreserve ovarian tissue with
subsequent auto-transplantation once in remission. The increasing frequency of ovarian tissue
cryopreservation (OTC) portends a surge in future demand for auto-transplantation, yet the
viability/function of grafts is significantly undermined by post-transplant ischemia. Moreover, the iatrogenic
influence of chemotherapeutic agents and/or the inflammatory milieu present following tissue auto-
transplantation upsets the inter-follicular homeostasis that governs healthy ovarian physiology. We have
developed an approach that utilizes cultured vascular cells to accelerate perfusion of transplanted ovarian
tissue. In addition, we have demonstrated the potential for an ovary-specific secreted factor, anti-Müllerian
hormone (AMH), to modulate follicular growth and activation. The goals of this proposal are to combine
these technologies to enhanced tissue viability and follicular output in the context of auto-transplantation
and/or mitigate the negative influence of chemotherapeutic agents on the ovary in situ. The proposal aims
to address this burgeoning unmet need by: 1) improving viability and output of ovarian tissue grafts by co-
transplanting patient-matched vascular endothelial cells isolated at the time of OTC; 2) manipulating
signaling within the graft site at the time of ovarian tissue transplantation to repress premature follicular
mobilization; and 3) mitigating the gonadotoxic influence of alkylating chemotherapy via pre-conditioning of
ovarian tissue with AMH. In pursuing these goals, the proposal stands to improve outcomes for thousands
of women who have undergone or will undergo OTC, while also aiming to forego in future patients the risk,
expense, pain, and uncertainty of OTC and auto-transplantation.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10902005
- **Project number:** 5R01HD112441-02
- **Recipient organization:** WEILL MEDICAL COLL OF CORNELL UNIV
- **Principal Investigator:** Daylon J James
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $360,781
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-08-08 → 2028-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10902005

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10902005, Anti-Mullerian hormone for preserving ovarian function before administration of gonadotoxic therapies or after transplantation of cryopreserved tissue. (5R01HD112441-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10902005. Licensed CC0.

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