Conducting Labour

At the end of a pregnancy and the onset of labour, the womb muscles work as an ensemble to push the baby out. And, at the centre, maintaining the harmony and rhythm, is the protein connexin 43 (shown here stained red in the uterus of a mouse). Connexin 43 is a component of connective junctions between cells – enabling their coordinated activity – and its production ramps up in response to signals from the mechanosensory channels PIEZO 1 and PIEZO 2. These channels, which are enriched in the uterine muscles and cervical nerves respectively, sense the expansion and pressure caused by the growing foetus as it reaches term. In pregnant mice lacking PIEZO1 and 2, connexin 43 levels remained low, labour was impaired and delivery was delayed. Together, the findings suggest the PIEZO-connexin pathway could be targeted therapeutically to control the progression and tempo of labour, slowing or inducing it as needed.

Written by Ruth Williams

Ruth Williams

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Ruth is a freelance science journalist based in the US. She's a regular correspondent for The Scientist, and her work has appeared in The Lancet, Nature, Scientific American Mind, BBC Focus and elsewhere. Twitter @rooph

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• Image from work by Yunxiao Zhang and colleagues
• Department of Neuroscience, Dorris Neuroscience Center, The Scripps Research Institute, San Diego, CA, USA
• Image copyright held by the original authors
• Research published in Science, November 2025