Biology of the Human Uterus in Pregnancy and Disease

• Research type

  Research Tissue Bank

• IRAS ID

  184465

• Research summary

  Biology of the Human Uterus in Pregnancy and Disease

• REC name

  East of England - Cambridge South Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  17/EE/0030

• Date of REC Opinion

  8 Feb 2017

• REC opinion

  Unfavourable Opinion

• Data collection arrangements

  The aim of the biobank is to support research into maternal-fetal interactions during normal and pathological pregnancies. Consequently, the principal focus will be the development and function of the placenta, the organ that interfaces between the baby and the lining of the mother’s uterus, the endometrium. To understand how the uterus prepares for a pregnancy we will collect samples of endometrium at different stages of the normal monthly cycle from women being investigated for infertility of both male female origin, and for recurrent miscarriage. We will also collect samples of endometrium and of the placenta during early pregnancy following termination for psycho-social reasons, and of the placenta from normal and pathological pregnancies after delivery. Samples of tonsils from patients undergoing elective tonsillectomy will be taken as they provide a source of the cells that underpin the immunological interactions between the related, but genetically distinct, baby and the mother. Finally, samples of endometrial cancer and endometriosis will be obtained from women undergoing hysterectomies to provide insight into how these pathologies may arise. All samples will be collected on an anonymised voluntary basis following informed written consent, and be stored in secure facilities within research laboratories at the University of Cambridge.

• Research programme

  The biobank will primarily support research into maternal-fetal interactions during pregnancy conducted by investigators at the Centre for Trophoblast Research at the University of Cambridge. During early pregnancy, the placenta attaches to, and invades into, the lining of the mother’s uterus, the endometrium. This poses numerous biological challenges, not least the co-existence of the genetically related, but distinct, tissues of the mother and her baby. Perhaps not surprisingly, therefore, placentally-related complications affect over 20% of pregnancies, some with devastating outcomes such as miscarriage or stillbirth. Members of the Centre take a multi-disciplinary approach to investigating both normal development of the placenta, and the origins of these complications. This includes genetic analyses, the assessment of immunological interactions, the nature and functions of the secretions from the endometrial glands, the differentiation of the various cell types within the placenta, and the development of the maternal and fetal circulations to the placenta. By integrating results from these different disciplines, we aim to provide novel insights into the biological causation of these complications of pregnancy and ultimately to relieve the suffering that they inflict.

• Storage license

  12196

• RTBTitle

  Biology of the Human Uterus in Pregnancy and Disease

• Establishment organisation

  Centre for Trophoblast Research

• Establishment organisation address

  University of Cambridge

  Physiological Laboratory

  Downing Street, Cambridge

  CB2 3EG