News

The RNA landscape of the human placenta in health and disease

13 May 2021

Sungsam Gong, Francesca Gaccioli, Justyna Dopierala, Ulla Sovio, Emma Cook, Pieter-Jan Volders, Lennart Martens, Paul D. W. Kirk, Sylvia Richardson, Gordon C. S. Smith & D. Stephen Charnock-Jones Abstract The placenta is the interface between mother and fetus and inadequate function contributes to short and long-term...

Slowing of fetal growth and elevated maternal serum sFLT1:PlGF are associated with early term spontaneous labor

27 April 2021

Ulla Sovio, Francesca Gaccioli, Emma Cook, Stephen Charnock-Jones, Gordon Smith Background The physiological control of human parturition at term is unknown. Objective To test the hypothesis that slowing of fetal growth or elevated maternal serum levels of markers of placental hypoxia in late gestation will be associated...

Deletion of the Imprinted Phlda2 Gene Increases Placental Passive Permeability in the Mouse

27 April 2021

Emily Angiolini, Ionel Sandovici, Philip M. Coan, Graham J. Burton, Colin P. Sibley, Abigail L. Fowden, Miguel Constância Abstract Genomic imprinting, an epigenetic phenomenon that causes the expression of a small set of genes in a parent-of-origin-specific manner, is thought to have co-evolved with placentation. Many...

Mapping the expression of transient receptor potential channels across murine placental development

23 April 2021

Katrien De Clercq · Vicente Pérez‑García · Rieta Van Bree · Federica Pollastro · Karen Peeraer · Thomas Voets · Joris Vriens Abstract Transient receptor potential (TRP) channels play prominent roles in ion homeostasis by their ability to control cation influx. Mouse placentation is governed by the processes of trophoblast...

The CD94/NKG2A inhibitory receptor educates uterine NK cells to optimize pregnancy outcomes in humans and mice

23 April 2021

Summary The conserved CD94/NKG2A inhibitory receptor is expressed by nearly all human and ∼50% of mouse uterine natural killer (uNK) cells. Binding human HLA-E and mouse Qa-1, NKG2A drives NK cell education, a process of unknown physiological importance influenced by HLA-B alleles. Here, we show that NKG2A genetic ablation...

Anti-oxidant supplements during pregnancy may protect against the link between low oxygen in the womb and impaired memory function in adult offspring, a study using laboratory rats and led by Professor Dino Giussani shows.

22 April 2021

A new study in laboratory rats has discovered a direct link between low oxygen in the womb and impaired memory function in the adult offspring. It also finds that anti-oxidant supplements during pregnancy may protect against this. Low oxygen in the womb - known as chronic fetal hypoxia - is one of the most common...

Mapping cells of the reproductive tract across the lifespan will help fill critical gaps in our knowledge about health

20 April 2021

0_tsi06wu9v1xoqygd.jpg A typical fallopian tube epithelium stained to highlight cell membranes (red), nuclei (blue), and PAX8 genes (green). Photo provided by Ernst Lengyel, University of Chicago. 1 of 10 women in reproductive age suffer from endometriosis, but we don’t have a diagnostic tool and we don’t have a treatment...

Investigation of infertility using endometrial organoids review just published in Repro Journal

20 April 2021

Konstantina Nikolakopoulou, Margherita Y Turco Abstract Infertility is a common problem in modern societies with significant socio-psychological implications for women. Therapeutic interventions are often needed which, depending on the cause, can either be medical treatment, surgical procedures or assisted reproductive...

Frequent loss-of-heterozygosity in CRISPR-Cas9–edited early human embryos

12 April 2021

Gregorio Alanis-Lobato , Jasmin Zohren , Afshan McCarthy , Norah M. E. Fogarty , Nada Kubikova , Emily Hardman , Maria Greco , Dagan Wells , James M. A. Turner , and Kathy K. Niakan Abstract CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing is a promising technique for clinical applications, such as the correction of disease-associated alleles...

Fetal umbilical artery Doppler as a tool for universal third trimester screening: A systematic review and meta-analysis of diagnostic test accuracy