Inter- and intra-individual variation in allele-specific DNA methylation and gene expression in children conceived using assisted reproductive technology.

ABSTRACT: Epidemiological studies have reported a higher incidence of rare disorders involving imprinted genes among children conceived using assisted reproductive technology (ART), suggesting that ART procedures may be disruptive to imprinted gene methylation patterns. We examined intra- and inter-individual variation in DNA methylation at the differentially methylated regions (DMRs) of the IGF2/H19 and IGF2R loci in a population of children conceived in vitro or in vivo. We found substantial variation in allele-specific methylation at both loci in both groups. Aberrant methylation of the maternal IGF2/H19 DMR was more common in the in vitro group, and the overall variance was also significantly greater in the in vitro group. We estimated the number of trophoblast stem cells in each group based on

SUBMITTER: Turan N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2908687 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature