Can ancient viruses cause preterm birth?
Research institutes:
Blizard Institute,
Queen Mary University of LondonProject dates:
Grant Awarded: 07 Mar 2021
Funding awarded:
Grant Amount: £50,000
We still don’t know what causes many preterm births. Dr Miguel Branco is investigating whether sections of DNA that originate from ancient viruses can cause inflammation that leads to some preterm births. His research could lead to new ways to predict and prevent preterm labour, and help more babies be born healthy and at the right time.
The challenge
Inflammation within the placenta, triggered by infections in the womb, is thought to be the cause of many preterm births. But scientists believe that infections can’t account for all the preterm births we see.
We need to better understand all the potential causes that might lead to preterm birth, so that we can find more ways to stop babies from being born too soon.
The project
Dr Miguel Branco is interested in sections of DNA called transposable elements, or TEs. These are thought to be the remnants of ancient viruses which got stuck in the human genome.TEs are normally kept in a ‘hibernating’ state, and don’t have any negative effects. But when TEs are ‘awakened’, the immune system thinks they are a virus and responds, causing inflammation. This has been seen in other tissues, but we don’t yet know whether this also happens in the placenta. If this is the case, Dr Branco thinks these TEs could explain some of the preterm births we can’t currently link to other causes.In this preliminary study, Dr Branco is using placenta cells grown in the lab to explore if awakening
TEs causes inflammation in these cells. He is also looking at an existing collection of human placenta samples.
In these samples, Dr Branco is looking for signs of TE activation, and whether that coincides with inflammation in these placentas.
What difference will this project make?
We need to better understand all the different potential causes of preterm birth. Dr Branco’s research is gathering the first evidence of whether Transposable Elements (TEs) in our DNA can trigger inflammation in the placenta which might lead to preterm birth.
If this is the case, it could open opportunities to find new ways to predict preterm birth, or develop treatments to stop it from happening. This could eventually help ensure more babies are born healthy, and at the right time.
By fully understanding how these immune cells are involved in labour, future studies might be able to target them, or some of the molecules they make, to prevent preterm labour. Finding an effective treatment to reduce the number of babies born too soon would mitigate some of the emotional, physical and financial costs of preterm birth.
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Updates
May 2025 – The project is going as planned, and good progress is being made. To date, the team have:
- Found a simpler and more cost-effective method to identify the Cluster 3 macrophages in womb samples.
- Discovered that Cluster 3 macrophages produce four molecules that activate other immune cells, which in turn can activate other cells in a chain reaction.
- Showed that these macrophages do make molecules that could help the waters to break. The team are conducting further lab experiments to see if this is indeed the case.
- Found that the number of macrophages does increase during labour, and possibly before labour begins. The team are conducting more research to confirm this.
