New Therapies for Fetal Growth Restriction

NICHD/NIH funds work to prevent and treat fetal growth restriction (FGR)

Dr. Amy Abell, associate professor of Biological Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, was recently awarded $138,455 from the NIH Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD) in the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The goal of this R03 award is to develop an animal model to test HDAC6 as a drug target to reduce and/or prevent fetal growth restriction (FGR).

Occurring in up to 10% of all pregnancies worldwide, FGR is defined by the failure of the fetus to grow to its genetically predetermined size. This failure results in increased rates of fetal and neonatal death along with lifelong health problems in surviving individuals. Health issues include neurodevelopmental problems and metabolic disorders. Currently, there is a lack of approaches to detect, treat, and/or prevent FGR. Altogether, these make FGR a critical health problem and the focus of a research initiative at NICHD that has funded Abell’s project.

Placental insufficiency is one of the most common causes of FGR. Identification and targeting of enzymes controlling placental growth and function may result in early therapeutic strategies to treat FGR, which are currently unavailable. Abell and colleagues recently discovered that an enzyme called mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase 4 (MAP3K4) promotes fetal and placental growth. Inactivation of MAP3K4 resulted in FGR and placental insufficiency. They also showed that MAP3K4 normally represses a key enzyme called histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6). In the absence of MAP3K4 activity, HDAC6 is overexpressed and hyperactive. She predicted that hyperactive HDAC6 may be responsible for FGR. Abell’s newly funded project will target HDAC6 through genetic deletion and examine the impact on placental growth and function. She predicts that deletion of HDAC6 will result in increased placental and fetal growth and reduced fetal morbidity and mortality. The availability of small molecule inhibitors for HDAC6 provides a unique opportunity for developing a therapy to treat FGR.

For more on this study and/or research, contact Abell at anabell@memphis.edu.