Project description:Preterm birth, defined as birth <37 weeks of gestation, is a leading cause of infant morbidity and mortality. In the United States, approximately 12% of all births are preterm.1 Despite decades of research, there has been little progress in developing effective interventions to prevent preterm birth. In fact, the rate of preterm birth has increased slightly over the last several decades.2 The ultimate goal of the Genomic and Proteomic Network for Preterm Birth Research (GPN-PBR) is to identify possible biomarkers that could predict the susceptibility to spontaneous preterm birth (SPTB) as well as to shed light on the molecular mechanisms involved in its etiologies. Understanding those mechanisms will help us predict SPTB and may facilitate the introduction of more effective prevention and treatment strategies.
Project description:Preterm birth is the major cause of newborn and infant mortality affecting nearly one in every ten live births. This study was designed to develop an epigenetic biomarker for susceptibility of preterm birth using buccal cells from the mother, father, and child (triads). MeDIP-seq was used to identify differential DNA methylation regions (DMRs) using a comparison of control term birth versus preterm birth triads. Epigenetic DMR associations with preterm birth were identified for both the mother and father that were distinct and suggest potential epigenetic contributions from both parents. The mother (165 DMRs) and female child (136 DMRs) at p<1e-04 had the highest number of DMRs and were highly similar suggesting potential epigenetic inheritance of the epimutations. The male child had negligible DMR associations. The DMR associated genes for each group involve previously identified preterm birth associated genes.
Project description:In this study, the molecular signature of placenta membrane from preterm birth placenta was assessed and compared to full-term placenta by proteomic profiling with the aim to identify molecules relevant to preterm birth.
Project description:Preterm birth is often predisposed by chorioamnionitis (CA) and CA affects the fetal gut and lungs via intra-amniotic (IA) inflammation, thus accentuating the proinflammatory effects of preterm birth. It is not known if IA inflammation also affects other perfusion-sensitive organs (e.g., kidneys) before and after preterm birth. Using preterm pigs as model for preterm infants, we hypothesized that CA induces fetal and neonatal renal dysfunctions that can intially be detected via plasma proteome, partly explaining the frequent renal dysfunction in preterm infants. Fetal pigs (88% gestation) were given an IA dose of lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 1 mg/kg, n=28), delivered preterm by cesarean section three days later, and compared with controls (CON, n=26) at birth and postnatal day five. Plasma proteome and protein markers of inflammatory pathways were evaluated.
Project description:Preterm birth (PTB) is one of major causes of perinatal mortality and neonatal morbidity, but knowledge of its complex etiology is still limited. Here we present cervicovaginal fluid (CVF) protein profiles of pregnant women who subsequently delivered at spontaneous preterm or term, aiming to identify differentially expressed CVF proteins in PTB and term birth. The CVF proteome of women who sequentially delivered at preterm and term was analyzed using isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) coupled with two-dimensional nanoflow liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (2D-nLC-MS/MS). We compared the CVF proteome of PTB (n=5) and control subjects (term birth, n=7) using pooled control CVF (term birth, n=20) as spike-in standard. We identified 1294 CVF proteins, of which 605 were newly identified proteins. Of 990 proteins quantified in both PTB and term birth, 52 proteins were significantly up/down-regulated in PTB compared to term birth. The differentially expressed proteins were functionally associated to immune response, endopeptidase inhibitors and structural constituent of cytoskeleton. Taken together, our study provide quantitative CVF proteome profiles of pregnant women who ultimately delivered at preterm and term. These promising results could help to improve the understanding of PTB etiology and to discover biomarkers for asymptomatic PTB.
Project description:Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) hold great therapeutic potential in morbidities associated with preterm birth. However, the molecular expressions of hMSCs in preterm birth infants have not been systematically evaluated. In this study, we presented the dual-omics analyses of umbilical cord (UC) derived hMSCs to identify the dysregulated cellular functions. Materials and methods: The UC-MSCs were collected from 10 full-term and 8 preterm birth infants for transcriptomics and proteomics analyses by using microarray and iTRAQ-based proteome profiling. The integrative analysis of dual-omics data discovered 5,615 commonly identified genes/proteins of which 29 genes/proteins showed consistent up- or down-regulation in preterm birth. The Gene Ontology analysis revealed that the biological processes of mitochondrial translation and cellular response to oxidative stress were mainly enriched in 290 differential expression proteins (DEPs) while the 421 differential expression genes (DEGs) were majorly involved in secondary alcohol metabolic process, cellular response to stress, and mitotic cell cycle in preterm birth. Besides, we identified a 13-protein module involving CUL2 and CUL3, which plays an important role in cullin-RING-based ubiquitin ligase complex, as potential mechanism for preterm birth. The dual-omics data not only provided new insights to the molecular mechanism but also to identify panel of candidate markers associated with preterm birth.
Project description:To investigate maternal whole blood gene expression profiles associated with spontaneous preterm birth (SPTB, <37 weeks) in asymptomatic pregnant women. The ‘All Our Babies’ (AOB) community based cohort in Calgary recruited pregnant women between May 2008 and December 2010.