Dr. Bonnie Deroo, PhD

Children’s Health Research Institute
Scientist, Molecular Genetics Program

Lawson Health Research Institute
Scientist, Children's Health Research Institute

The University of Western Ontario
Assistant Professor, Department of Biochemistry

Contact Information
Tel: (519) 685-8500 Ext. 55988
Fax: (519) 685-8186
E-mail: bderoo2@uwo.ca
Web: http://www.deroo.org

Brief Biography

Dr. Bonnie Deroo completed her doctoral studies in the Department of Biochemistry at The University of Western Ontario in 2002. She then trained at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) in North Carolina as a Postdoctoral Fellow. She joined the Department of Biochemistry at The University of Western Ontario in July 2007.

Research Interests

• The role of estrogens in development of the human ovary.
• Mechanisms of transcriptional regulation by Estrogen Receptor beta in the ovary.
• Estrogen receptor beta mutations and female infertility.

Research Activities

Infertility affects one in six Canadian couples, and in many cases is due to female infertility caused by infrequent or no ovulation. The goal of Dr. Deroo’s laboratory is to understand the role of estrogen in the developing ovary and to understand how an abnormal ovarian response to estrogen results in infertility. To study this role, mice which produce smaller litters and ovulate less frequently than normal mice are used. These mice lack the gene for Estrogen Receptor beta, an estrogen-binding transcription factor that is highly expressed in the ovary. There is genetic evidence suggesting that variants of the gene for Estrogen Receptor beta lead to ovulatory defects and infertility in women. Our goal is to understand what role ERbeta plays in normal ovulation to better understand causes of infertility in women.

Representative Publications

1. Deroo BJ, Korach KS. (2006). Estrogen receptors and human disease. Journal of Clinical Investigation. 116: 561-570.
   
2. Hewitt SC, Deroo BJ, Korach KS. (2005). Signal transduction. A new mediator for an old hormone? Science. 307:1572-1573.
   
3. Hewitt SC, Collins J, Grissom S, Deroo B, Korach KS. (2005). Global uterine genomics in vivo: microarray evaluation of the estrogen receptor alpha-growth factor cross-talk mechanism. Mol Endocrinol. 19:657-668.
   
4. Couse JF, Yates MM, Deroo BJ, Korach KS. (2005). Estrogen receptor ? is critical to granulosa cell differentiation and the ovulatory response to gonadotropins. Endocrinology. 146:3247-3262.
   
5. Deroo BJ, Hewitt SC, Peddada SD, Korach KS. (2004). Estradiol regulates the thioredoxin antioxidant system in the mouse uterus. Endocrinology. 145:5485-5492.
   
6. Hewitt SC, Deroo BJ, Hansen K, Collins J, Grissom S, Afshari CA, Korach KS. (2003). Estrogen receptor-dependent genomic responses in the uterus mirror the biphasic physiological response to estrogen. Mol Endocrinol. 17:2070-2083.
   
7. Wilson MA, Ricci AR, Deroo BJ, Archer TK. (2002). The histone deacetylase inhibitor trichostatin A blocks progesterone receptor-mediated transactivation of the mouse mammary tumor virus promoter in vivo. J Biol Chem. 277:15171-15181.
   
8. Hsiao PW, Deroo BJ, Archer TK. (2002). Chromatin Remodeling and Tissue-Selective Responses of Nuclear Hormone Receptors. Biochemistry and Cell Biology. 80:343-351.
   
9. Deroo BJ, Archer TK. (2002). Differential activation of the I?B? and Mouse Mammary Tumor Virus promoters by progesterone and glucocorticoid receptors. Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. 81:309-317.
   
10. Deroo BJ, Rentsch C, Sampath S, Young J, DeFranco DB, Archer TK. (2002). Proteasomal inhibition enhances glucocorticoid receptor transactivation and alters its sub-nuclear trafficking. Molecular and Cellular Biology. 12:4113-4123.
    
11. Deroo BJ, Archer TK. (2002). Proteasome inhibitors reduce luciferase and ß-galactosidase activity in tissue culture cells. J Biol Chem. 277:20120-20123.