PNNL

Abstract

Preterm birth is a global health issue impacting both mothers and children. However, the etiology of preterm birth is not clearly understood. From our recent finding that premature decidual senescence with terminal differentiation is a cause of preterm birth in mice with uterine Trp53 deletion, encoding p53 protein, led us to explore other potential factors that are related to preterm birth. Utilizing proteomics approaches, here we show that 183 candidate proteins cause significant changes in decidua with Trp53 deletion as compared to normal decidua. Functional categorization of these proteins unveiled new pathways that are influenced by p53. In particular, downregulation of a cluster of antioxidant proteins in p53 deficient decidua suggests that increased oxidative stress could be one cause of preterm birth in mice with uterine deletion of Trp53.