A team of Pitt Pediatrics researchers led by Thomas A. Hooven, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics and scholar at the Richard King Mellon Foundation Institute of Pediatric Research, found a genetic regulator plays a critical role in allowing group B Streptococcus (GBS) to enter the bloodstream, which can trigger adverse responses leading to preterm labor and stillbirth.
The research team focused on a single GBS gene that encodes a genetic regulator. This regulator, called MrvR, is a key component for GBS resistance to human amniotic fluid. MrvR was determined by the research team to contribute to development of chorioamnionitis - infection of the placenta, fetal membranes, and fetus.
In addition to colleagues from the University of Vermont, University of Maryland, University of Wisconsin, New York University School of Medicine, and Georgetown University School of Medicine, Hooven was joined by Mary F. Keith, DO, MS and postdoctoral researcher Kathyayini Parlakoti Gopalakrishna, MBBS, PhD, both of the Pitt Pediatrics Division of Newborn Medicine.