Department of Biological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, United States.
Department of Reproductive Biology, Case Western Reserve University and Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Hospitals of Cleveland, Cleveland, United States.
Elife. 2020 Dec 31;9:e58343. doi: 10.7554/eLife.58343.
Eutherian mammals have characteristic lengths of gestation that are key for reproductive success, but relatively little is known about the processes that determine the timing of parturition, the process of birth, and how they are coordinated with fetal developmental programs. This issue remains one of biology's great unsolved mysteries and has significant clinical relevance because preterm birth is the leading cause of infant and under 5 year old child mortality worldwide. Here, we consider the evolutionary influences and potential signaling mechanisms that maintain or end pregnancy in eutherian mammals and use this knowledge to formulate general theoretical evolutionary models. These models can be tested through evolutionary species comparisons, studies of experimental manipulation of gestation period and birth timing, and human clinical studies. Understanding how gestation time and parturition are determined will shed light on this fundamental biological process and improve human health through the development of therapies to prevent preterm birth.
真兽类哺乳动物具有特征性的妊娠长度，这对生殖成功至关重要，但关于决定分娩时间、分娩过程以及如何与胎儿发育计划协调的过程，人们知之甚少。这个问题仍然是生物学中尚未解决的最大谜团之一，具有重要的临床意义，因为早产是全球婴儿和 5 岁以下儿童死亡的主要原因。在这里，我们考虑了维持或结束真兽类哺乳动物妊娠的进化影响和潜在信号机制，并利用这些知识来制定一般理论进化模型。可以通过进化物种比较、对妊娠时间和分娩时间的实验操作的研究以及人类临床研究来检验这些模型。了解妊娠时间和分娩时间是如何确定的，将有助于揭示这一基本的生物学过程，并通过开发预防早产的治疗方法来改善人类健康。
