Two proteins, which play a vital role in ovarian function and female fertility, have been identified by the researchers from the National Institutes of Health.

The researchers hope that the latest discovery would be helpful in knowing the reasons for infertility in women and its treatment later.

It will also help in formulating new methods to prevent pregnancy by preventing the release of the egg.

The proteins, called ERK1 and ERK2 (extracellular signal-related kinases), also help in nurturing the maturation and the release of oocyte (mammalian egg).

Dr. Duane Alexander, director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) said, "Ovulation results from a complex interplay of chemical sequences."

"The researchers have identified a crucial biochemical intermediary controlling the release of the egg."

"The finding advances our understanding and may one day contribute to new treatments for infertility as well as new ways to prevent pregnancy from occurring," Dr. Alexander added.

Dr. Louis V De Paolo, chief of the NICHD Reproductive Sciences Branch, said that the proteins (ERK1 and ERK2) are a critical link between the surge in luteinizing hormone and ovulation.

Dr. De Paolo said, "This is a key chemical pathway that affects not only ovulation, but egg cell maturation and granulosa cell differentiation into luteal cells."

The anterior pituitary gland produces the luteinizing hormone.

Earlier, researchers were not familiar with that how luteinizing hormone actuated the ovary's release of the egg and the creation of progesterone by the granulosa cells.

In the current study, the researchers differentiated that luteinizing hormone emerges to signal the release of the ERK 1 and ERK 2 proteins.

"We're still at the tip of the iceberg. We need to understand it all," said De Paolo said.

But, further study is required to know various other components involved in the sequence that resulted in ovulation.