Mount Sinai Experts Present New Research at 70th Annual Meeting of the Society for Reproductive Investigation

(New York, NY – March 22, 2023) – Reproductive health experts from the Mount Sinai Health System are presenting research at the 70th Annual Meeting of the Society for Reproductive Investigation (SRI) in Brisbane, Australia from March 21-25. The researchers are available for interview about their findings, and can also provide commentary on other women’s health and female biology topics, breaking news, and studies.

~PRESENTATIONS and POSTER SESSIONS~
(**All abstracts are under embargo until the below listed times**)

Wednesday, March 22, 2023
7:30-7:45 p.m. EDT (9:30-9:45 a.m. AEST, Thursday, March 23, 2023)
NI-003: Vaginal Microbe-Derived Extracellular Vesicles Uptake into Cervicovaginal Epithelial Cells and Deliver Bacterial Cargo.
Session Plenary I
Location: Great Hall 1 & 2, Foyer Level
Andrea Joseph, PhD, incoming Postdoctoral Fellow at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; Michal A. Elovitz, MD, Dean for Women’s Health Research and Director of the Women’s Biomedical Research Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; and other co-authors
• Cervicovaginal microbial communities have been shown to be associated with reproductive health and disease. While specific bacteria have been implicated in disease processes, it remains unclear how these non-motile microbes mediate molecular responses from the cervicovaginal microbial epithelium. We demonstrate that, similar to mammalian cells, cervicovaginal microbial microbes produce extracellular vesicles which can elicit inflammatory responses in epithelial cells. This study assessed how extracellular vesicles traffic in the cervicovaginal microbial space, and to characterize the extracellular vesicles proteome.

8:00-10:00 p.m. EDT (10:00a.m.-12:00 p.m. AEST, Thursday, March 23, 2023)
T-214 – Extracellular Vesicles from Gardnerella vaginalis and Mobiluncus mulieris Induce Host Immune Responses from THP-1 Monocytes.
Session LB-001 – Late Breaking
Location: Great Hall 3 & 4, Foyer Level
Andrea Joseph, PhD, incoming Postdoctoral Fellow at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; Michal A. Elovitz, MD, Dean for Women’s Health Research and Director of the Women’s Biomedical Research Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; and other co-authors
• Colonization of the cervicovaginal space with Gardnerella vaginalis or Mobiluncus mulieris is associated with STIs, bacterial vaginosis, and preterm birth. We and others have demonstrated specific molecular pathways by which these anaerobes compromise the epithelial barrier, mechanistically leading to adverse outcomes. We also demonstrate that these microbes can produce extracellular vesicles, which can recapitulate the same epithelial injury as the parent microbe. What remains unknown is whether microbial extracellular vesicles contribute to adverse reproductive health through communication with resident immune cells. Therefore, this study determined if vaginal microbe-derived extracellular vesicles could induce an immune response from human monocytes.

Thursday, March 23, 2023
7:00-9:00p.m. EDT (9:00-11:00 a.m. AEST, Friday, March 24, 2023)       
F-002 – Vaginal Microbes Leverage Distinct Molecular Mechanisms to Drive Specific Immune Responses in Epithelial and Immune Cells.
Session PO2-01a – Basic Parturition, Prematurity
Location: Great Hall 3&4, Foyer Level
Andrea Joseph, PhD, incoming Postdoctoral Fellow at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; Michal A. Elovitz, MD, Dean for Women’s Health Research and Director of the Women’s Biomedical Research Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; and other co-authors
• Cervicovaginal microbial communities dominated by anaerobes (Gardnerella vaginalis and Mobiluncus mulieris) are associated with increased risk of STI, bacterial vaginosis, and preterm birth while Lactobacillus crispatus is associated with reproductive health. Recent research suggest that adverse reproductive outcomes are driven by complex host-microbe interactions in the cervicovaginal microbial space. This study explained how microbes activate specific immune signaling pathways, focusing on anti-microbial peptides and the NLRP3-dependent inflammasome, in cervicovaginal microbial epithelial and immune cells.

Friday, March 24, 2023
9:15-9:30 pm EDT (11:15 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. AEST, Saturday, March 25, 2023)
O-146: Altered Immune Function Precedes the Development of Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy Among Black Individuals.
Session Preeclampsia II
Location: M1, Mezzanine Level
Michal A. Elovitz, MD, Dean for Women’s Health Research and Director of the Women’s Biomedical Research Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; and other co-authors
• Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy are a leading cause of maternal morbidity and mortality. How perturbations in maternal immunity might drive hypertensive disorders of pregnancy remains unclear. This study assessed if functional immunity was different early in pregnancy among Black individuals who developed hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.

 

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