Maternal Microbial Transmission
Maternal Microbial Transmission - Related Videos
05:22
Ex vivo Culture of Human Placental Explants for the Study of Viral Transmission Across the Maternal-Fetal Interface
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2025
This protocol describes the preparation of human placental tissue explants cultured at an air-liquid interface for the study of viral infections.
09:17
Generation of Maternal Mutants Using zpc:cas9 Knock-in Zebrafish
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2025
Here, we describe a protocol for generating maternal mutant that couples a stable zpc:cas9 knock-in line with Tol2-mediated delivery of sgRNA expression cassettes.
07:04
Human Placental and Decidual Organ Cultures to Study Infections at the Maternal-fetal Interface
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Cited by 7 •
2016
A simple method to establish primary human placental (villous) and decidual organ cultures is described. Villous and decidual organ cultures are invaluable tools for studying pathogenesis at the human maternal-fetal interface. Infection with the facultative intracellular bacterium Listeria monocytogenes is demonstrated.
07:51
Isolation of Leukocytes from the Murine Tissues at the Maternal-Fetal Interface
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Cited by 44 •
2015
Described herein is a protocol to isolate and analyze the infiltrating leukocytes of tissues at the maternal-fetal interface (uterus, decidua, and placenta) of mice. This protocol maintains the integrity of most cell surface markers and yields enough viable cells for downstream applications including flow cytometry analysis.
06:55
Assessment of Maternal Vascular Remodeling During Pregnancy in the Mouse Uterus
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Cited by 27 •
2015
This protocol describes a technique to assess changes in the maternal vasculature during pregnancy in mice. Using stereological methods, remodeling of the decidual spiral arteries is assessed quantitatively and the results confirmed qualitatively using immunohistochemistry.
FAQs
Timing and route determine which maternal microorganisms or microbial molecules encounter the offspring. Exposure before birth occurs in a developing biological environment, whereas delivery, breastfeeding, and close contact introduce material under different conditions. These encounters can affect colonization of the infant gut, skin, and other body sites, producing a changing microbial starting point after birth.
The infant’s developing microbial communities encounter changing environmental and immune conditions as exposure continues from before birth through early life. These conditions can influence whether transferred microorganisms or microbial molecules become part of local communities and how those communities develop. The resulting interactions are relevant to early immune maturation and metabolism, not only to microbial presence.
Maternal microbial transmission includes both microorganisms and microbial molecules, so early-life effects are not limited to organisms that establish lasting populations. Molecules transferred through maternal contact may still interact with the developing infant environment and contribute to biological signals associated with immune maturation or metabolism. Distinguishing these components broadens the study of how maternal microbiomes affect offspring development.
Delivery practices, feeding, and maternal health can change the exposures available to an infant during a period of active microbial development. Because these factors influence contact with maternal microorganisms or microbial molecules, they may contribute to differences in colonization across the gut, skin, and other sites. Their effects are studied in relation to early-life microbial, immune, and metabolic outcomes.
A biological investigation can organize maternal microbial transmission by exposure route and developmental timing, considering events before birth, delivery, breastfeeding, and close physical contact. Researchers can then relate these routes to microbial communities at infant body sites, while accounting for environmental and immune conditions. This framework helps connect maternal exposures with changes in early colonization rather than treating all transmission as one event.
Research in this area can clarify how maternal microbiome exposure relates to the formation of infant microbial communities and to broader developmental processes. The main outcomes of interest include early colonization patterns, immune maturation, and metabolism. Comparing these outcomes across exposure routes and maternal or feeding contexts can help explain why early microbial development differs among infants.
The topic connects developmental biology with microbiome research and maternal and child health because early microbial encounters occur while the infant’s body and immune system are developing. It also provides a framework for examining how maternal health, delivery practices, feeding, and physical contact relate to early-life outcomes. These links make transmission relevant to both basic biological questions and health-focused investigation.