StanfordFewer than 0.001% of brain cells keep mouse pregnancies going.
Just over half of miscarriages trace to embryo genetic errors, and the rest remain unexplained.
Mice bred without these preoptic hypothalamus neurons conceived, but every pregnancy ended early because embryos failed to implant.
The human neurons were found only in an existing gene-expression atlas and have not been tested.
Jennifer O’Chan of Mount Sinai wants to know whether the neurons signal the uterus through a hormone.
How each outlet framed it
- New Scientist
- maps pregnancy-exclusive neurons with 30-fold expression shift; potential clinical basis for unexplained miscarriage and IVF failure
Sources: New Scientist