Experts explore how environment affects key cell functions
Environmental Factor, NIEHS, November 2021
The complex relationship between environmental stressors, extracellular vesicles (EVs), and adverse health outcomes was the focus of an NIEHS workshop held Sept. 27-28. Experts discussing the topic included Dr. Ramkumar Menon, from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, who described his work analyzing exosomes in the context of premature birth. He used an organ-on-chip device that mimics human biological interactions between fetus and mother. Menon showed that fetal exosomes shuttling the protein HMGBI functioned as a signal to trigger early labor.