Given that amphiregulin is a known tissue-repair growth factor, and inducible from multiple cell types via diverse damage-associated molecular pattern signals including ATP (adenosine triphosphate), PGE2 (Prostaglandin E2) and cyclic AMP (adenosine monophosphate), an obvious role during preterm sepsis would be to protect developing organs from excessive tissue damage following infection-related injury24. Here, AREG is linked to infection.