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National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

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Your Environment. Your Health.

Publication Detail

Title: Mono-(2-Ethylhexyl) Phthalate Promotes Pro-Labor Gene Expression in the Human Placenta.

Authors: Wang, Ximi K; Agarwal, Monica; Parobchak, Nataliya; Rosen, Alex; Vetrano, Anna M; Srinivasan, Aarthi; Wang, Bingbing; Rosen, Todd

Published In PLoS One, (2016)

Abstract: Women exposed to phthalates during pregnancy are at increased risk for delivering preterm, but the mechanism behind this relationship is unknown. Placental corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) are key mediators of parturition and are regulated by the non-canonical NF-kB (RelB/p52) signaling pathway. In this study, we demonstrate that one of the major phthalate metabolites, mono-(2-ethylhexyl)-phthalate (MEHP), increased CRH and COX-2 mRNA and protein abundance in a dose-dependent manner in primary cultures of cytotrophoblast. This was coupled with an increase in nuclear import of RelB/p52 and its association with the CRH and COX-2 promoters. Silencing of NF-kB inducing kinase, a central signaling component of the non-canonical NF-kB pathway, blocked MEHP-induced upregulation of CRH and COX-2. These results suggest a potential mechanism mediated by RelB/p52 by which phthalates could prematurely induce pro-labor gene activity and lead to preterm birth.

PubMed ID: 26751383 Exiting the NIEHS site

MeSH Terms: No MeSH terms associated with this publication

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