Pregnant mother's body rejects the fetus, due to immune response caused by infection or local inflammation. This causes preterm birth. Stem cell therapy can prevent this reaction and prevent preterm birth.

1. PRETA
PREVENTING PRETERM BIRTH
Shubhda Roy - Final Presentation
Advanced Cell Biology II
JHU’s Breakthrough Technology
Autologous Adult Stem Cell Therapy for Prevention of
Pre-Term Birth – [C12023]

2. PRE TERM BIRTH
 Preterm birth is one of the top
causes of death in infants
worldwide.
 Premature infants are at a
greater risk for short and long
term complications.
 Currently, there are no effective
therapies that significantly
reduce uterine contractions to
prevent preterm birth.
http://www.jhttonline.jhu.edu/TechnologyDetail.aspx?TechID=5B33E1A7-
8334-483F-981E-7B5264C25304

3. WHAT HAPPENS ?
• Infection or tissue damage stimulate a local inflammatory
reaction..
• Production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and inflammatory
mediators
• Cytokines are small proteins mainly synthesized by cells of the
immune system
• Transmit signals between cells, and are partly responsible for the
inflammatory response

4. WHAT HAPPENS ?
Preterm Birth
Cytokines such as
interleukin-1, TNF-and
interleukin-8 (IL-8) play a
role as mediators of
inflammation in preterm labor
Fetus loses immunological
defense in their presence
and becomes vulnerable to
destruction by the immune
system

5. INVENTION NOVELTY
 PretA is looking to partner with Johns Hopkins University.
 Use one of its “breakthrough” technologies of
 “Autologous Adult Stem Cell Therapy for Prevention of Pre-Term Birth –
[C12023]”
 “This technology is a novel treatment to prevent early labor in
women who are at a high risk for preterm birth.
 Preventative administration with autologous stem cells has the
potential to prevent preterm birth, as well as decrease
intrauterine inflammation often associated with early labor”

6. WHAT IS AUTOLOGOUS ADULT STEM CELL?
 Stem cells that comes from an individual “OWN” adult or
somatic cells
 Today autologous stem cells can be derived from
 Bone marrow
 Blood
 Fat tissue
 Autologous have similar properties as embroynic stem cell

7. EVIDENCE THAT IT WORKS
 Human adipose stem cells exhibit immunomodulatory effects
in a rodent model of uterine inflammation and preterm birth.
 The mice pretreated with human adipose stem cells before
induced uterine inflammation showed a significant decrease in
the rate of preterm births

8. PROPERTIES OF ADIPOSE TISSUE
Adipose tissue contains a stromal vascular fraction
(SVF) that is a rich source of adipose tissue-derived
stem cells (ASCs).
ASCs are multipotent and in vitro-expanded ASCs have
the capacity to differentiate, into amongst others,
adipocytes, chondrocytes, osteoblasts, and myocytes.

9. MECHANISM OF ACTION
ADSCs increased production of
IL-10 suppresses the expression
of pro-inflammatory cytokines
Ovulation of the ADSC
administration group increased
after therapy
Apoptosis in the ovaries
decreased after ADSC
transplantation
ADSCs have anti-inflammatory
properties which suppress
interleukin-1, TNF-and
interleukin-8 (IL-8).

10. FINAL PROPOSAL
 An individual’s adipose tissue is removed, stem
cells is selected, harvested, and administered
 The adipose stem cells or (ASC) are injected into
pregnant individual(s) with a history or high risk of
preterm labor or as a precautionary measure
 ASC cells shows their immunomodulatory effects
and prevent the immune response from kicking in
thereby
 Preventing Preterm Birth

11. OTHER BENEFITS
 No risk of rejection of transplant from individual’s
immune cell
 Treatment can be preventative
 Can be administered in early pregnancy
 Adipose tissue is abundant, expendable, and easily
accessible

12. QUESTIONS ?

13. REFERENCES
 http://www.jhttonline.jhu.edu/TechnologyDetail.aspx
?TechID=5B33E1A7-8334-483F-981E-
7B5264C25304
 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22634645
 http://stemcellres.com/content/4/4/80
 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16764118
 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/158019
 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17348807
 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15801964