M2 macrophages undergoing ferroptosis regulate uterine smooth muscle contraction to facilitate labor onset
Limin Song, Yue Wu, Kunpeng Liu, Wanqiu Xia, Xiaoying Wang, Ye Bu, Huike Yang, Yan Cai · 2025
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Description
Labor begins through a tangle of signals, and the mother's immune system seems to pull several levers. Limin Song and co-authors ask whether ferroptosis, a form of cell death driven by iron, helps trigger the uterine contractions that start labor. Mining gene datasets, they mapped which immune cells gather in the uterine muscle and which ferroptosis-linked genes switch on. The analysis flagged forty-nine genes and pointed to M2 macrophages as central players.
Lab and animal tests confirmed the story. During labor the uterine muscle showed more free iron, drained protective reserves, and more damage markers, all signs of ferroptosis. In a dish, M2 macrophages undergoing this death turned inflammatory and made uterine muscle cells contract harder. Forcing the same death on the muscle cells weakened their contraction machinery. The authors propose ferroptosis as a labor timing switch, and a target when labor mistimes.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Limin Song, Yue Wu, Kunpeng Liu, Wanqiu Xia, Xiaoying Wang, Ye Bu, Huike Yang, Yan Cai |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2025 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 47 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |