Developing a new immunotherapy to prevent preterm birth
Research institutes:
Department of Women and Children’s Health,
St Thomas’ Hospital Campus, King’s College London
Peter Gorer Department of Immunobiology,
School of Immunology and Microbial Sciences,
Guy’s Hospital, King’s College LondonProject dates:
Grant Awarded: 14 Jan 2021
Funding awarded:
Grant Amount (Borne’s share): £66,180
Grant Total Amount: £132,359
Sometimes the mother’s immune system in the womb can reject their unborn baby, which may cause preterm birth. In this project, Prof Rachel Tribe and her team showed that their new cell therapy could effectively suppress the immune system in the womb. Their research could eventually help prevent preterm birth in mothers at high risk, and stop babies being born too soon.
The challenge
In the UK, around 55,000 babies are born prematurely every year, and sadly around 1,000 will die as a result. One reason why some pregnancies end in miscarriage or pre-term labour is because of the mother’s immune system.
A person’s immune system is trained to recognise anything ‘foreign’ (i.e. not the person’s own body), as a potential threat. From the perspective of a pregnant woman’s immune system, the unborn baby and their placenta in the womb is ‘foreign’ and should be attacked. To prevent this from happening, normally the immune system in the womb is suppressed in early pregnancy.
But scientists believe that sometimes, the immune system in the womb is not fully suppressed, which could lead to some babies being born prematurely. We need to find ways to stop the mother’s immune system from rejecting the baby and prevent babies from being born too soon.
The project
Advanced cell therapies are being developed that can change the way the immune system behaves, to treat a variety of health conditions. Prof Rachel Tribe and her colleagues think that such a cell therapy could potentially be used as a treatment to prevent preterm birth in women at high risk.
In this initial project, which completed in December 2023, Prof Tribe worked with scientists from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. Together they isolated cells from placentas donated by women who gave birth at full-term.
Prof Tribe and her team used these cells to test their theory in mice that are prone to preterm birth. After treating these pregnant mice with the cell therapy, the team found that it could prolong pregnancy and delay preterm birth, compared to mice who didn’t receive the cells.
What difference will this project make?
We need to find ways to ensure the mother’s immune system doesn’t reject the developing baby. In this project, Prof Tribe and her team demonstrated that it could be possible to change the way the immune system works in women at risk of preterm birth.
The project was a ‘proof of principle’ for this idea, and Prof Tribe’s team have now been awarded further funding by Borne and Action Medical Research to continue their work into this potential treatment.
A similar approach has already been tested in clinical trials for other conditions, and has been shown to be safe and effective. So, if Prof Tribe’s team are successful with their research, they hope their approach could be tested in a clinical trial within the next few years.
If all goes well, this research could eventually lead to a new treatment to prevent preterm birth, and ensure more babies are born healthy and at the right time.
This funding from Borne and Action Medical Research has allowed us to study a new preventative treatment that may help prevent babies from being born too early in the future.
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This project is jointly funded by Borne and Action Medical Research
