The single-cell immune profile throughout gestation and its potential value for identifying women at risk for spontaneous preterm birth
Year: 2025
Type: review
Abstract: Precisely timed immune adaptations, observed in the maternal circulation, underpin the notion of an immune clock of human pregnancy that supports its successful progression and completion at delivery. This immune clock is divided into three immunological phases, with the first phase starting at the time of conception and implantation, shifting into the second phase that supports homeostasis and tolerance throughout pregnancy, and culminating in the last phase of labor and parturition. Disruptions of this immune clock are reported in pregnancy complications such as spontaneous preterm birth. However, our understanding of the immune clock preceding spontaneous preterm birth remains scattered. In this review, we describe the chronology of maternal immune cell adaptations during healthy pregnancies and highlight its disruption in spontaneous preterm birth. With a focus on single-cell cytometric, proteomic and transcriptomic approaches, we review recent studies of term and spontaneous preterm pregnancies and discuss the need for future prospective studies aimed at tracking pregnancies longitudinally on a multi-omic scale. Such studies will be critical in determining whether spontaneous preterm pregnancies progress at an accelerated pace or follow a preterm-intrinsic pattern when compared to those delivered at term.
Institutions: Stanford Medicine, Stanford University, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, University of California San Diego, Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Washington University in St. Louis
Language: English
Subfield: Epidemiology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,400
Funders: Burroughs Wellcome Fund, March of Dimes Foundation, Robertson Foundation, Bayer Fund, ZonMw, Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, Universität Hamburg, National Institutes of Health, School of Medicine, Stanford University, National Institute of General Medical Sciences, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Stanford Maternal and Child Health Research Institute
Awards: G1841878183, SRHOO - Sexuelle und reproduktive Gesundheit bei Übergewicht und Adipositas, G2660346745, Medical Scientist Training Program, G9000216779, Modeling human trophoblast-NK cell interactions in term and preterm birth, Medical Scientist Training Program, Neuromodulation of maternal immune adaptations in pregnancy
OpenAlex ID: W4407204628