Charalambous lab

Pregnancy Physiology Laboratory

Pregnancy is an extraordinary feat of metabolic plasticity. 

Maternal stores built up in the early phase of pregnancy are released in the late, catabolic phase, directing energy and nutrients towards the developing fetus. The molecular mechanisms driving this metabolic switch are still poorly understood. Failure of maternal adaptation can cause gestational diabetes, fetal growth disorders and impaired long-term metabolic health of both mother and child. All of these outcomes are more likely in more obese populations.

We are interested in how signals produced by the placenta and developing embryo can influence how the mother makes energy available for the growing fetus. We study how these signals modify how nutrients are used by the mother during pregnancy, and how they are transported across the placental barrier for use by the fetus.

We are also trying to understand how genetic pathways that act in the maternal brain and endocrine system influence the mother’s response to these signals. Importantly, we study the consequences of when communication between mother and offspring does not work properly; failures of growth and lifelong increased risk of cardiovascular disease and obesity.

Our team integrates techniques from whole-organism metabolic physiology, developmental genetics, epigenetic profiling, transcriptomics and metabolomics to understand the regulation of pregnancy metabolism at multiple scales.