Improvement of fertility in female mice by a single treatment with telomerase
increasing compounds

The need for pharmaceutical compounds that improve female fertility is crucial since many
women that postpone childbearing today face a decline in their fertility. The essential role of
telomerase in female fertility was previously demonstrated and telomerase knockout mice are
infertile. Therefore increasing telomerase in the ovary may improve fertility by influencing
folliculogenesis, oocyte maturation and ovulation processes. We used novel compounds (AGS)
that transiently increased telomerase expression and activity in vitro and in-vivo, to examine
their effect on the folliculogenesis and ovulation processes. A single injection of AGS increased
telomerase expression and activity in the mouse ovary, accelerated oocyte maturation and
ovulation and increased the expression of associated genes. An increase in the plasma
progesterone level and the gonadotropins hormones expression was also observed. The
outcome of these enhancements is an increase in the number of embryos and offspring which
exhibited a normal development and growth. These data demonstrate the importance of the
transient increase of telomerase in the ovary by pharmaceutical compounds for the improvement
of female fertility.