This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Preterm birth remains a significant economic and public health burden and the incidence is rising. Our objective is to develop a nonhuman primate (NHP) model of stretch-induced preterm labor (PTL) to elucidate how mechanical stretch is sensed by the myometrium and fetal membranes. Uterine stretch is often responsible for the onset of PTL in multiple gestation, which accounts for 15% of preterm births and 50% of the increase in preterm birth rates over the last decade. Women with a multiple gestation can be identified by early ultrasound making them an ideal group to target for prophylactic interventions. The unifying hypothesis is that a novel NHP model of uterine stretch will emulate human stretch-induced PTL and define the initiating and subsequent events in the pathogenesis of this type of PTL. Previously, we have defined intracellular mechanisms responsible for stretch-induced expression of labor-associated genes in vitro and now need to establish an animal model in which to test potential therapeutic interventions.
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