Project description:Hundreds of naturally occurring milk peptides have been found in term human milk. Whether there are differences between the levels of these peptides between term and preterm milk remains unknown. Premature milk is produced before complete maturation of the mammary gland and is under the influence of a different hormonal milieu, which could change enzymatic activity and protein expression within the mammary gland and result in an altered peptide profile. We employed nano-liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry to identify naturally occurring peptides in term and premature milks at multiple time-points across lactation and compare the abundances of these peptides. We found that preterm milks produced more unique peptide sequences than term milks on average (359 vs. 286). The peptides identified were searched for overlapping sequences with an in-house database of known functional peptides. Specifically, we found that both term and preterm milks contain peptides overlapping with known sequences with antimicrobial, opioid antagonist and immunomodulatory actions. We also compared the enzymes involved in degradation of both milks via bioinformatic analysis. This analysis reveals that plasmin is more active in preterm milk than term milk.
Project description:We compared fetal membrane tissue from preterm labor deliveries to fetal tissue from preterm labor with preterm prelabor rupture of membranes (PPROM) deliveries to further explore the concept that spontaneous preterm birth can result from the initializing of two separate but overlapping pathological events. Chorioamnion, separated into amnion and chorion, was collected from gestationally age-matched cases and controls within 15 minutes of birth, and analyzed using RNA sequencing. In our study, transcriptome analysis of preterm fetal membranes revealed distinct differentially expressed genes for PPROM, separate from preterm labor. This study is the first to report transcriptome data that reflects the individual pathophysiology of amnion and chorion tissue from PPROM deliveries.
Project description:Purpose: Our goal was to evaluate the pathways through which chorioamnionitis induces fetal lung maturation and how it interacts with a low-dose treatment with antenatal corticosteroids to further enhance fetal lung maturation. Methods: We treated pregnant rhesus macaque at 132 days (80% gestation) with intre-amniotic bacterla lipopolissacharide to model chorioamnionitis or a low-dose antenatal corticosteroids treatment with betamethasone-acetate (Beta-Ac 0.125mg/kg) or both treatments. Fetuses were delivered by c-section after 5 days and RNA-sequencing of whole lung tissue was performed. Another group of fetuses exposed to LPS was delivered 16h after treatment. Preterm controls were delivered at 132 days and term controls were delivered at 155 days and received no intervention. Results: Treatment with Beta-Ac in the setting of chorioamnionitis improves lung compliance and increases surfactant production relative to either treatment alone. RNA sequencing shows that these changes are mediated by suppression of proliferation and induction of mesenchymal cellular death. The combined exposure results in a mature-like transcriptomic profile with inhibition of extracellular matrix development by suppression of collagen genes and regulators of lung development. ACS and inflammation also suppressed signature genes associated with proliferative mesenchymal progenitors similar to the term lung. Conclusion: Treatment with ACS in the setting of inflammation may result in early respiratory advantage to preterm infants, but this advantage may come at a cost of abnormal extracellular matrix development which may be associated with increased risk of chronic lung disease.
Project description:Postnatal establishment of enteric metabolic, host-microbial and immune homeostasis is the result of precisely timed and tightly regulated developmental and adaptive processes. Here, we show that infection with the invasive enteropathogen Salmonella Typhimurium results in a Myd88-dependent accelerated maturation of the neonatal epithelium with premature appearance of antimicrobial, metabolic, developmental, and regenerative features of the adult tissue.
Project description:Here, we investigated γδ T cells in a longitudinal cohort of preterm neonates during the first year of life. Our data reveal dynamic postnatal maturation patterns of γδ T cell subsets, which are largely age-dependent. We report on the expansion of fetal-derived γδ T cells in preterm neonates with sepsis. Single cell transcriptome analyses identified HLA-DRhigh and CD83+ γδ T cells in neonatal sepsis.
Project description:How systemic metabolic alterations during acute infections impact immune-cell function remains poorly understood. Hess and colleagues demonstrate that acetate rapidly increases during infections, which drives acetylation of GAPDH in memory CD8+ T cells and thereby catalyzes the rapid recall response. Comparison of mRNA profile of control vs. 3d acetate exposed memory OT-I T cells