Schuh Lab

A warm welcome to Roni, who joined the Schuh lab in December 2025 as a new Postdoc! She completed her PhD in Genetics focusing on the development and aging of #oocytes in C. elegans.
Now she‘ll investigate the role of actin in #meiosis.
Great to have you with us, Roni 🎉

Huge congratulations to Ovo Labs on receiving the Max Planck Startup Award! 🎉

From Science to Startup: Founding Ovo Labs

Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/2aEe...

What does it take to translate fertility research into a biotech company?
Agata and Melina joined “Holding on to Unicorns and Rainbows” podcast to tell the story of Ovo Labs.
🎧 Listen to the full episode:
(Apple Podcasts) podcasts.apple.com/mx/podcast/f...

The Schuh lab just got a new postdoc—welcome Venus! 🎉

Venus studied telomere regulation in cancer during her PhD and will now explore telomeres in meiosis.

Excited to have you on the team, Venus! ✨

find some articles here:
The Guardian: www.theguardian.com/science/2026...
Reuters: www.reuters.com/business/hea...
The Times: www.thetimes.com/uk/science/a...
Boston Globe: www.bostonglobe.com/2026/01/09/n...

🚀 Our research on human egg quality and #fertility is making headlines worldwide! 🌍
Thanks to @debojitsaha.bsky.social, our co-authors, clinical collaborators, and the patients who made this study possible - and to Ovo Labs for advancing this work.
#IVF #womenshealth

Why do women’s eggs deteriorate as they age? 🥚
The @washingtonpost.com reports on this question and features our study on Shugoshin 1.
📰

Human eggs ‘rejuvenated’ in an advance that could boost IVF success rates Exclusive: Research suggests supplementing eggs with a key protein reduces age-related defects, raising hopes of improved IVF for older women

Our work on improving human egg quality was featured in @theguardian.com.
We hope this will help to make #IVF more successful and allow more couples to conceive. 💜

Huge thanks to @debojitsaha.bsky.social for leading this work — & to an outstanding team of co-authors: Saba Manshaei, @cavazzalab.bsky.social, Z. Holubcová, B. Maierova, A. Zielinska, L. Wartosch, M. Blaney, K. Elder & our clinical collaborators at Bourn Hall Clinic & Reprofit International (10/10)

Our findings identify centromeric cohesion protection as a modifiable determinant of egg quality.
This is, to our knowledge, the first molecular intervention shown to improve chromosome cohesion in human eggs.
(9/10)

Remarkably, SGO1 supplementation in human eggs significantly reduces premature chromatid separation and the number of single chromatids per egg.

This effect is consistent across donors. (8/10)

Human eggs show the same pattern.
Eggs from women ≥35 years have significantly reduced SGO1 and increased PSSC compared to younger donors.
Can this be rescued by supplementing SGO1? (7/10)

Crucially, restoring SGO1 levels in aged mouse eggs rescues centromeric cohesion and reduces chromosome errors to youthful levels. But what about human oocytes, do they also lose SGO1 with age? (6/10)

But how do cohesins and their protective factors change with age?
In aged mouse oocytes, we observe a decline in pericentromeric transcription, SGO1, PP2A, and centromeric cohesion.
This mirrors the dramatic rise in PSSC with age. (5/10)

We find that ongoing transcription at pericentromeres is essential to maintain SGO1 (and PP2A) on meiotic chromosomes.
Blocking transcription reduces SGO1 on chromosomes and triggers cohesion loss. (4/10)

We identify Shugoshin 1 (SGO1) as a critical protector of centromeric cohesion in mammalian eggs.
In mouse oocytes, depletion of SGO1 with siRNAs causes cohesion failure (PSSC) and alignment defects. But how is SGO1 maintained at meiotic centromeres? (3/10)

Sister chromatids must stay tightly connected until fertilization.
When cohesion fails, chromatids separate prematurely — a defect called PSSC (premature separation of sister chromatids) — leading to mis-segregation and aneuploidy. (2/10)

Human eggs must segregate their chromosomes with exquisite precision — yet errors rise with maternal age, causing miscarriage & infertility.
Our new article on @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social shows why chromosome cohesion fails in aging eggs & how to improve it.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... (1/10)

The Schuh lab wishes you & your families a #MerryChristmas and a wonderful start to a happy & successful #NewYear2026 🎄✨

This year’s department Christmas card features a microscope image by our PostDoc @kosti-sofroni.bsky.social showing a fetal ovary containing prophase oocytes.

We’re excited to have Qiuyan join the Schuh lab as a postdoctoral researcher 🎉
She earned her PhD in Biological Sciences, with a research focus on understanding early embryonic development. In her new role, she’ll explore germ cell development.

Welcome to the team, Qiuyan!

🧬Why does female fertility decline with age? And can egg cells be rejuvenated🥚?
Find out in a new interview with Melina discussing her research on the biology of aging #oocytes.
#WomensHealth 💜
(Article in German)
ajour.ch/de/story/634...

Ovo Labs Awarded $100K to Advance Groundbreaking IVF Therapy in Lilly Grand Challenge The 2025 Lilly Grand Challenge brought together some of the most promising early-stage biotech innovators at Eli Lilly and Company’s global…

🎉Ovo Labs won the @elilillyandcompany.bsky.social x @nucleate.bsky.social Grand Challenge 2025!
Founded by Melina Schuh, Agata Zielinska & Oleksandr Yagensky to improve IVF success rates, Ovo Labs was picked from 450+ biotech companies. Huge congratulations!💜
🔗 nucleatehq.medium.com/ovo-labs-awa...

Last week, we enjoyed wonderful days on our #labretreat at Ringberg Castle by Lake Tegernsee, together with the Rink Lab and Lenart Lab from @mpi-nat.bsky.social. We explored science, hiked, did yoga, played games, and shared lots of laughter. A perfect setting to exchange ideas and connect. 🧠🧘‍♀️🎲

👉 Dive into our full review to explore these mechanisms in detail, compare strategies across species, and see how understanding protein storage in oocytes could open new paths for fertility research.
Thanks to @idajentoft.bsky.social for your great work on this review. (5/5)

But oocytes face another challenge: protein damage accumulates during the mother’s life. Proteostasis systems clear or sequester damaged proteins ensuring a rejuvenated egg. Failure here may explain age-related fertility decline, as long-lived proteins lose stability and clearance falters. (4/5)

Across species, diverse strategies have evolved to store proteins, from large filamentous assemblies to membrane bound compartments. These systems prevent premature degradation and ensure key proteins are available when needed after fertilization. (3/5)

As transcription shuts down in growing oocytes, the egg relies on maternally deposited proteins and RNAs to drive early development, until the embryo can make its own.
But how do oocytes store these proteins? (2/5)

How do oocytes prepare for life before life begins? 🧬
Our new review in Annual Review of Cell and Developmental Biology @annualreview explores how oocytes store proteins to support development and fertility. (1/5)
🔗 go.shr.lc/4o9hsk8

Open Call for Expressions of Interest in Max Planck Directorships: Expressions of interest can be submitted until 31 October 2025.

Director at Max Planck - a unique position! The Open Call for Expressions of Interest in Max Planck Directorships is open now and can be submitted by the 31st of October 2025. ➡️ mpg.de/directors - Please share the Open Call among potential candidates.