Gene expression profile of the human myometrium in preterm spontaneous labor (PSL)

Preterm birth, defined as delivery before the 37th week of gestation, is the most common cause of neonatal mortality and the second leading cause of death in children under five years of age. Preterm birth is associated with immediate and long term morbidity as well as growth and developmental delay. Currently there is no treatment that can prevent or block preterm labor. In order to identify the molecular regulators of preterm spontaneous labor in the human myometrium, we studied the gene expression profiles of samples with Preterm Spontaneous Labour (PSL) and compared them with the gene expression profiles of samples with Preterm No Labor (PNL). We used myometrial tissue samples from women delivering by cesarean section with informed consent. We generated gene expression profiles using the Illumina HTv1.4 microarray and compared the differential gene expression between the preterm spontaneous labor (PSL, n=8) group and the preterm no labor (PNL, n=8)group.