Publications by authors named "Aidan M Cook"
J Neuroinflammation
June 2024
Article Synopsis
- The study investigates how maternal infection with SARS-CoV-2 affects immune responses in the placenta and its implications for fetal brain development, particularly focusing on Hofbauer cells (HBCs), which act as fetal placental macrophages.
- Researchers analyzed HBCs from term placentas of pregnant individuals who tested positive or negative for SARS-CoV-2, finding notable differences in gene expression and impaired functions like phagocytosis in certain HBC subpopulations.
- The findings indicate that HBCs can be transformed into microglia-like cells, allowing for personalized models to study microglial programming in children affected by maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Article Synopsis
- Maternal infection with SARS-CoV-2 activates immune responses that can adversely affect fetal brain development through fetal brain microglia, which are difficult to study directly.
- Researchers found that Hofbauer cells (HBCs) from pregnancies affected by SARS-CoV-2 show different cellular responses and impaired functions crucial for brain development compared to HBCs from unaffected pregnancies.
- The study suggests that HBCs can be transformed into microglia-like cells, providing a unique opportunity to create personalized models to better understand how maternal infections influence the programming of offspring's brain immune cells.
