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\title{PLOS Science Wednesday: Hi reddit, my name is Anirban Banerjee and I
discovered tiny sacks of toxins may increase the risk of premature
delivery in pregnant mice, with implications for preterm birth in humans
-- Ask Me Anything!}



\author[1]{PLOSScienceWednesday }%
\author[1]{r/Science AMAs}%
\affil[1]{Affiliation not available}%


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  \date{April 24, 2026}


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\begin{abstract}
Hi Reddit, My name is Anirban Banerjee and I am an Assistant Professor
at the Department of Biosciences \& Bioengineering, Indian Institute of
Technology Bombay, INDIA. I am a microbiologist and my research
primarily focuses on the identification of various methods adopted by
pathogens to breach different barriers in our body, such as the
blood-brain barrier or feto-maternal barrier etc. We hope to learn from
the smart tactics employed by these tiny creatures and apply them to
deliver drugs across these barriers which are hard to penetrate. We
recently published an article titled ``Membrane Vesicles of Group B
Streptococcus Disrupt Feto-Maternal Barrier Leading to Preterm Birth''
in PLOS Pathogens. It is a well established fact that colonization of
vagina and cervix of pregnant women with Group B Streptococcus (GBS), an
opportunistic pathogen, significantly increases the probability of
preterm birth. However, in fairly large number of cases the bacteria has
not been detected in the feto-maternal interface and/or amniotic fluid.
This led us to wonder how GBS sitting in the vagina can orchestrate
events at the feto-maternal barrier. We were of the opinion that since
rupture of amniotic membrane which is a prerequisite for preterm birth
involves a complex series of events; this can only be augmented by a
host of bacterial factors and not just simply one. Our findings suggest
GBS produces membrane bound vesicles (MVs) that are loaded with multiple
toxic proteins and enzymes of the bacteria. These MVs are capable of
traveling up through the reproductive tract and lead to a series of
deleterious effects resulting in extensive damage of the feto-maternal
barrier (amniotic membrane) and subsequently preterm birth. This work
was primarily done by four doctoral students in my lab (Manalee Surve,
Anajali Anil, Kshama Kamath and Smita Bhutda) in collaboration with Dr.
Deepak Modi, from National Institute for Research in Reproductive Health
(NIRRH), Mumbai, INDIA. I will be answering your questions at 1pm ET --
Ask Me Anything!%
\end{abstract}%



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