Publications | Diamond News Spring 2010

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Eye research opens up new studies in neonatal care

The body is an amazing machine and scientists studying it can be drawn into new and unexpected areas during the course of their careers. Dr Che Connon, who is a Research Councils UK Academic Fellow in Stem Cells and Nanomaterials at the University of Reading, first used a synchrotron in 1996 to further research on the restoration of corneal transparency following wounding. Amniotic membrane is used to heal corneal wounds and because the collagen fibres in amniotic membrane are similar to those in the cornea, Dr Connon and his colleagues at the Reading School of Pharmacy began to study these membranes and their structure at a molecular level using X-ray diffraction. It occurred to them that this research might also be valuable to those interested in women’s health and neonatal care.

In 2007, the Reading team approached Dr Anna David, a Consultant in Obstetrics and Maternal and Fetal Medicine at the Institute for Women’s Health at University College London, to discuss potential research collaborations focusing on amniotic membrane.

“We were extremely excited at the prospect of working with Dr Connon and using a synchrotron to study amniotic membrane. Its role in surrounding and protecting babies as they develop in the womb is critical and unfortunately early rupture of the membrane is one of the most common causes of premature birth and perinatal death. In 2007, we were granted ethical approval to collect membrane, which has enabled us to build up our
samples of pre-term and full term amniotic membranes, and make good use of our valuable beamtime at Diamond.”

Dr Anna David

In approximately 2% of all pregnancies, rupture of the amniotic membrane occurs early in pregnancy, well before the due date and sadly this can result in death, or severe learning difficulties in the infants because they usually deliver prematurely. Infection is a common cause of early rupture of the membrane but giving pregnant women antibiotics does not prevent it occurring. Another area of concern is vaginal bleeding. Nearly one in three women will bleed from the womb early in pregnancy. Usually this settles by the end of the 12th week, but for a few women the bleeding continues and is heavy, and the amniotic membrane is more likely to rupture prematurely.

 (L-R): Dr Anna David, Dr Adam Squires and Dr Che Connon, working at the University of Reading on collagen samples after using I22 to create diffraction patterns from different samples of collagen from amniotic sacs
(L-R): Dr Anna David, Dr Adam Squires and Dr Che Connon, working at the University of Reading on collagen samples after using I22 to create diffraction patterns from different samples of collagen from amniotic sacs

Understanding what causes the amniotic membrane to rupture before the baby is due, and answering questions such as what impact does infection and heavy bleeding have on the membrane, will help scientists to develop new ways to predict who may be at risk and to develop new pharmacological methods to prevent it happening. Using Diamond’s Non- Crystalline Diffraction beamline (I22), the collaborators are now studying the amniotic membrane tissue from women who have experienced premature rupture.

“The membrane is mainly made up of collagen and we are using Diamond’s powerful X-rays to examine the collagen arrangement in the amniotic membrane. We are able to do this in extremely fine detail and discover how the fibres of collagen are orientated, the diameter of the molecules, and the spacing between these molecules, down to a resolution of 50 –100 nanometres. Our early findings suggest that changes in the orientation of the collagen molecules lead to a weakening of the membrane and eventually to a programmed rupture. Rupture of the amniotic sac has been associated with weakening of the tissue, but there is very little information available concerning the detailed mechanisms of how this actually occurs. This is where our synchrotron work is so important, as it is helping us to build up the
results that we need to move this area of research forward.”

Dr Che Connon

Worldwide, premature birth is increasing although scientists and clinicians do not yet understand why, and 40% are attributed to early rupture of amniotic membranes. Therefore a better understanding of the rupture process will lead to better methods to predict who is at risk and allow the development of new therapies that may lower the number of premature deliveries.

For more information on the Non-Crystalline Diffraction beamline, please contact nick.terrill@diamond.ac.uk