Milk Analytics Core

ABSTRACT
The University of California San Diego (UC San Diego) MPRINT Center of Excellence in Therapeutics (CET)
involves a human milk (HM)-centered approach to investigate the role of maternal and pediatric therapeutics at
intersections of the mother-milk-infant ‘triad’. Key among the overall goals of the MPRINT CET are to assess
how maternal antibiotics impact HM composition and how HM components alter safety and efficacy of these
important pediatric therapeutic agents. HM composition analysis, however, is not trivial. HM composition is highly
dynamic and changes throughout lactation, indeed even throughout the course of a single feeding. HM is a
complex matrix that includes cells and microbes as well as large molecule aggregates like the milk fat globule.
HM also contains a unique set of molecules, the human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs), which represent the third
most abundant component of HM after lactose and lipids. Thus, the dynamic, complex, and unique nature of HM
requires specific collection protocols, assay development, and assay validation. With over 20 years of experience
in HM research, the Milk Analytics Core (MAC) will provide overall guidance and advice to MPRINT CET
investigators and staff. MAC will provide HM collection protocols and ready-to-ship sample collection kits to the
Clinical and Data Science Projects (Aim 1a) and receive HM samples for composition analysis (Aim 1b).
Depending on project needs, MAC offers macronutrient, oligosaccharide, and bioactive measurements as well
as milk microbiome analysis, the latter in collaboration with the UC San Diego Microbiome Core, which operates
independently of, but frequently in partnership with, our team. MAC will also provide mouse milk oligosaccharide
and microbiome analyses to the Research Project team (Aim 1c), applying our detailed prior knowledge of how
the St3gal4 mutation under study markedly depletes sialylated milk oligosaccharide content. Data generated
from our analyses will be returned to the respective project teams for integration. Separate HM aliquots from the
same samples will be passed directly on to the Pharmacometrics and Analytical Chemistry Core for antibiotic
drug quantification, and that data will likewise be directly returned to the respective project teams. In addition to
already established services, MAC will develop and validate new HM-specific assays by expanding the analyte
portfolio of the existing multiplex immunoassay platform (Aim 2a) and by engaging and activating other UC San
Diego researchers to apply and validate their unique technologies to HM research (Aim 2b). We envision MAC
to become a comprehensive milk analytics core with knowledge, skills, and technology, serving as a resource to
this and other MPRINT CETs and the biomedical research community at large. Together, we will be able to
generate a better understanding how antibiotic treatment during pregnancy and lactation impacts the mother-
milk-infant ‘triad’, inform and adjust precision in therapeutics, and ultimately improve maternal-child health.

Grant Number: 5P50HD106463-05
NIH Institute/Center: NIH
Principal Investigator: Lars Bode