Study Demonstrates that Cytokine IL-33 is Key Regulator of Pregnancy Progression & Type 2 Immune Responses
In August 2022, Dr. Aimee M. Beaulieu, Assistant Professor and Chancellor Scholar, Center for Immunity and Inflammation and Department of Microbiology, Biochemistry, & Molecular Genetics, and colleagues published a study in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences demonstrating that the cytokine, IL-33, is a key regulator of pregnancy progression and type 2 immune responses at the maternal-fetal interface in mice. This collaborative study included researchers from Dr. Beaulieu’s team, and from the teams of Dr. Nataki Douglas in the Center for Immunity and Inflammation and Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Health at Rutgers NJMS and Dr. Ripla Arora at Michigan State University. Dr. Nuriban Valero-Pacheco, the first author of the paper, demonstrated that pregnant mice lacking the Il33 gene exhibit diverse defects in key physiological and cellular processes in the uterine microenvironment that support pregnancy progression in mice, resulting in impaired fetal and placental development. These defects were associated with diminished Type 2 immune responses by uterine lymphocytes and myeloid cells at the maternal-fetal interface during early pregnancy. Ultimately, this work could inform future efforts to target IL-33 signaling to treat or prevent pregnancy disorders in women.
