DECONSTRUCTING EXTRAPLACENTAL MEMBRANES TO UNDERSTAND BACTERIAL CHORIOAMNIONITIS

Bacterial chorioamnionitis is an intrauterine infection that occurs during pregnancy and involves the membranes that extend from the placenta to form the sac encasing the amniotic fluid and developing fetus. Chorioamnionitis is most commonly caused by bacteria that likely ascend from the vagina into the gravid uterus and can result in devastating complications such as preterm labor, membrane rupture, fetal stillbirth, or severe infection of the newborn. Surviving babies exposed to chorioamnionitis in utero have an increased risk of lifelong disability. Unfortunately, most chorioamnionitis is clinically silent unless a bad outcome occurs, which compels the need for better diagnostic, therapeutic, and preventive approaches. Our lab has a primary interest in defining the early steps in disease pathogenesis of bacterial chorioamnionitis, when microbes first make contact with the fetal membranes. Through team science, we are using organ-on-chip models of human fetal membranes to define host-microbe interactions critical to the development of chorioamnionitis and its complications.