Keding publishes study in Placenta, defends thesis on August 15

Logan Keding, MS, PhD candidate in the Endocrinology and Reproductive Physiology Program mentored by Aleks Stanic, MD, PhD, co-authored a new publication published in Placenta. Co-authors include Jessica Vazquez, PhD, Ruo-Yu Liu, Emily Bove, Jessica Dorobek, Heather Simmons, DVM, DACVP, Kathleen Antony, MD, Jenna Racine, MD, Dinesh Shah, MD, Oliver Wieben, PhD, Thaddeus Golos, PhD, and Aleksander Stanic-Kostic, MD, PhD. 

In “Monocyte chemoattractant Protein-1 (MCP-1) decreases mineralization of the villous stroma in the macaque placenta”, Keding and co-authors studied the role of a signaling protein called Monocyte Chemoattractant Protein-1 (MCP-1), known to attract immune cells and typically linked with inflammation. Using a rhesus macaque model, the team injected MCP-1 into the placenta during pregnancy to model "sterile inflammation", and found that:

“Although MCP-1 is typically associated with inflammation and tissue pathology, our study demonstrates that supraphysiological MCP-1 levels led to increased leukocyte clustering and reduced mineralization in the villous stroma, without impairing maternal blood perfusion or fetal growth. These findings suggest a beneficial role for MCP-1 in the context of placental function.”

These insights provide a very early, but exciting, new direction for research in this area of immune system interaction with placental function.

Read the whole study here! 

Keding successfully defended his thesis on August 15, 2025. Congratulations, Dr. Keding!

**by Ob-Gyn Communications Intern Melis Baskaya