Similar Datasets
Project description:Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are developmental neurotoxicants implicated as environmental risk factors for neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). Here, we report the effects of prenatal exposure to a human-relevant mixture of PCBs on the DNA methylation profiles of mouse placenta and fetal brain. Thousands of differentially methylated regions (DMRs) distinguish placenta and fetal brain from PCB-exposed mice from sex-matched vehicle controls. In both placenta and fetal brain, PCB-associated DMRs are enriched for functions related to neurodevelopment and cellular signaling and enriched within regions of bivalent chromatin. The placenta and brain PCB DMRs overlap significantly and map to a shared subset of genes enriched for Wnt signaling, Slit/Robo signaling, and genes differentially expressed in NDD models. The consensus PCB DMRs also significantly overlap with DMRs from human NDD brain and placenta. These results demonstrate that PCB-exposed placenta contains a subset of DMRs that overlap fetal brain DMRs relevant to an NDD.
| S-EPMC8941983 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are developmental neurotoxicants implicated as environmental risk factors for neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD). We examined the effects of prenatal exposure to a human-relevant mixture of PCBs on the DNA methylation profiles of fetal mouse brain and placenta. We found thousands of differentially methylated regions (DMRs) distinguishing placentas and brains from PCB-exposed embryos from sex-matched vehicle controls. In both placenta and brain, PCB-associated DMRs were enriched for functions related to neurodevelopment and cellular signaling and enriched within regions of bivalent chromatin. The placenta and brain PCB DMRs overlapped significantly and mapped to a shared subset of genes enriched for Wnt signaling, Slit/Robo signaling, and genes differentially expressed in NDD models. PBC DMRs also significantly overlapped with DMRs from the brains of humans with Rett syndrome and Dup15q syndrome. These results demonstrate that placenta can be used as a surrogate for embryonic brain DNA methylation changes relevant to an NDD.
2022-03-03 | GSE171017 | GEO
Project description:Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are developmental neurotoxicants implicated as environmental risk factors for neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD). We examined the effects of prenatal exposure to a human-relevant mixture of PCBs on the DNA methylation profiles of fetal mouse brain and placenta. We found thousands of differentially methylated regions (DMRs) distinguishing placentas and brains from PCB-exposed embryos from sex-matched vehicle controls. In both placenta and brain, PCB-associated DMRs were enriched for functions related to neurodevelopment and cellular signaling and enriched within regions of bivalent chromatin. The placenta and brain PCB DMRs overlapped significantly and mapped to a shared subset of genes enriched for Wnt signaling, Slit/Robo signaling, and genes differentially expressed in NDD models. PBC DMRs also significantly overlapped with DMRs from the brains of humans with Rett syndrome and Dup15q syndrome. These results demonstrate that placenta can be used as a surrogate for embryonic brain DNA methylation changes relevant to an NDD.
2022-03-03 | GSE171016 | GEO
Project description:Placenta and fetal brain share a neurodevelopmental disorder DNA methylation profile in a mouse model of prenatal PCB exposure
| PRJNA750157 | ENA
Project description:Placenta and fetal brain share a neurodevelopmental disorder DNA methylation profile in a mouse model of prenatal PCB exposure [RNA]
| PRJNA718095 | ENA
Project description:Placenta and fetal brain share a neurodevelopmental disorder DNA methylation profile in a mouse model of prenatal PCB exposure [WGBS]
| PRJNA718094 | ENA
Project description:Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is a common neurodevelopmental problem, but neuropathologic descriptions are rare and focused on the extreme abnormalities. We conducted a retrospective survey (1980-2016) of autopsies on 174 individuals with prenatal alcohol exposure or an FASD diagnosis. Epidemiologic details and neuropathologic findings were categorized into 5 age groups. Alcohol exposure was difficult to quantify. When documented, almost all mothers smoked tobacco, many abused other substances, and prenatal care was poor or nonexistent. Placental abnormalities were common (68%) in fetal cases. We identified micrencephaly (brain weight <5th percentile) in 31, neural tube defects in 5, isolated hydrocephalus in 6, corpus callosum defects in 6 (including some with complex anomalies), probable prenatal ischemic lesions in 5 (excluding complications of prematurity), minor subarachnoid heterotopias in 4, holoprosencephaly in 1, lissencephaly in 1, and cardiac anomalies in 26 cases. The brain abnormalities associated with prenatal alcohol exposure are varied; cause-effect relationships cannot be determined. FASD is likely not a monotoxic disorder. The animal experimental literature, which emphasizes controlled exposure to ethanol alone, is therefore inadequate. Prevention must be the main societal goal, however, a clear understanding of the neuropathology is necessary for provision of care to individuals already affected.
| S-EPMC5901082 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Organophosphate and pyrethroid pesticides are among the most extensively used insecticides worldwide. Prenatal exposures to both classes of pesticides have been linked to a wide range of neurobehavioral deficits in the offspring. The placenta is a neuroendocrine organ and the crucial regulator of the intrauterine environment; early-life toxicant exposures could impact neurobehavior by disrupting placental processes. Female C57BL/6J mice were exposed via oral gavage to an organophosphate, chlorpyrifos (CPF) at 5 mg/kg, a pyrethroid, deltamethrin (DM), at 3 mg/kg, or vehicle only control (CTL). Exposure began two weeks before breeding and continued every three days until euthanasia at gestational day 17. The transcriptomes of fetal brain (CTL n=18, CPF n= 6, DM n=8) and placenta (CTL n=19, CPF n= 16, DM n=12) were obtained through RNA sequencing, and resulting data was evaluated using weighted gene co-expression networks, differential expression, and pathway analyses. Fourteen brain gene co-expression modules were identified; CPF exposure disrupted the module related to ribosome and oxidative phosphorylation, whereas DM disrupted the modules related to extracellular matrix and calcium signaling. In the placenta, network analyses revealed 12 gene co-expression modules. While CPF exposure disrupted modules related to endocytosis, Notch and Mapk signaling, DM exposure dysregulated modules linked to spliceosome, lysosome and Mapk signaling pathways. Overall, in both tissues, CPF exposure impacted oxidative phosphorylation, while DM was linked to genes involved in spliceosome and cell cycle. The transcription factor Max involved in cell proliferation was overexpressed by both pesticides in both tissues. In summary, gestational exposure to two different classes of pesticide can induce similar pathway-level transcriptome changes in the placenta and the brain; further studies should investigate if these changes are linked to neurobehavioral impairments.
2023-04-06 | GSE228777 | GEO
Project description:Preeclampsia is a dangerous hypertensive disorder of pregnancy with known links to negative child health outcomes. Here, we review epidemiological and basic neuroscience work from the past several decades linking prenatal preeclampsia to altered neurodevelopment. This work demonstrates increased rates of neuropsychiatric disorders [e.g., increased autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)] in children of preeclamptic pregnancies, as well as increased rates of cognitive impairments [e.g., decreased intelligence quotient (IQ), academic performance] and neurological disease (e.g., stroke and epilepsy). We also review findings from multiple animal models of preeclampsia. Manipulation of key clinical preeclampsia processes in these models (e.g., placental hypoxia, immune dysfunction, angiogenesis, oxidative stress) causes various disruptions in offspring, including ones in white matter/glia, glucocorticoid receptors, neuroimmune outcomes, cerebrovascular structure, and cognition/behavior. This animal work implicates potentially high-yield targets that may be leveraged in the future for clinical application.
| S-EPMC7170230 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Although prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) reduces offspring growth, it may increase obesity risk at adolescence. Animal models of PAE display glucose intolerance and increased adiposity, suggesting that PAE causes metabolic reprogramming. We tested this hypothesis in a mouse model of binge PAE, wherein pregnant C57Bl/6J females received 3 g/kg alcohol (ETOH) daily from gestational day 12.5 to 17.5; maltodextrin (MD) and medium chain triglycerides (MCT) served as isocaloric nutritional controls, and sham (H2O) treatment controlled for gavage stress. Our comprehensive assessment quantified body composition, energy expenditure, glucose tolerance, and cardiovascular function in offspring at age 17 weeks. Although ETOH pups were initially lighter than all other groups, they did not have a unique obesogenic phenotype. Instead, a similar obesogenic phenotype emerged in all three caloric groups (MCT, MD, ETOH), such that caloric groups had greater post-weaning weight gain (both sexes), reduced gonadal fat weight (males), and reduced glucose clearance (males) compared against H2O offspring. PAE did not affect body composition, respiratory exchange ratio, metabolic adaption to high-fat or low-fat diet, eating behavior, and blood pressure, and ETOH values did not differ from those obtained from isocaloric controls. Exposure to a higher alcohol dose (4.5 g/kg) or a high-fat (60%) diet did not exacerbate differences in body composition or glucose tolerance. "PAE-specific" effects on postnatal growth, glucose tolerance, adiposity, or hypertension only emerged when PAE offspring were compared just against H2O controls, or against MD controls. We conclude that prior reports of obesity and glucose intolerance in adult PAE offspring reflect the contribution of added gestational calories, and not alcohol's pharmacologic action. Results suggest that the increased adiposity risk in FASD is not caused by metabolic reprogramming, and instead originates from behavioral, medication, and/or dietary practices. This study highlights the importance of appropriate dietary controls in nutritional studies of PAE.
| S-EPMC6023152 | biostudies-literature