Project description:Preeclampsia is a severe placenta-related pregnancy disorder that is generally divided into two subtypes named early-onset preeclampsia (onset <34 weeks of gestation), and lateonset preeclampsia (onset ≥34 weeks of gestation), with distinct pathophysiological origins. Both forms of preeclampsia have been associated with maternal systemic inflammation. However, alterations in the placental immune system have been less well characterized. Here, we studied immunological alterations in early- and late-onset preeclampsia placentas using a targeted expression profile approach. RNA was extracted from snap-frozen placenta samples (healthy n=13, early-onset preeclampsia n=13, and late-onset preeclampsia n=6). The expression of 730 immune-related genes from the Pan Cancer Immune Profiling Panel was measured, and the data were analyzed Q10 in the advanced analysis module of nSolver software (NanoString Technology). The results showed that early-onset preeclampsia placentas displayed reduced expression of complement, and toll-like receptor (TLR) associated genes, specifically TLR1 and TLR4. Mast cells and M2 macrophages were also decreased in early-onset preeclampsia compared to healthy pl acentas. The findings were confirmed by an immunohistochemistry approach using 20 healthy, 19 early-onset preeclampsia, and 10 late-onset preeclampsia placentas. We conclude that the placental innate immune system is altered in early-onset preeclampsia compared to uncomplicated pregnancies. The absence of these alterations in late-onset preeclampsia placentas indicates dissimilar immunological profiles. The study revealed distinct pathophysiological processes in earlyonset and late-onset preeclampsia placentas and imply that a tailored treatment to each subtype is desirable.
Project description:For understanding the relationship of preeclampsia and placental methylation,we performed an epigenome-wide association study in a Chinese cohort containing 22 early-onset preeclampsia patients and 20 normal controls. We used Illumina Infinium HumanMethylation450k BeadChip for detecting the methylation level, and used placental genomic DNA as sample. most of the significant CpG sites were hypomethylated in EOPE in the Chinese cohort.
Project description:We investigated the DNA methylation and gene expression of 20 chorionic villi samples from early onset preeclampsia placentas to 20 gestational age matched controls. From this we were able to see a widespread disregulation in DNA methylation across a subset of genes in the genome. This may help to elucidate the underlying biological problems that lead to early onset preeclampsia. We noted that there were DNA methylation changes in many genes of importance as well as in different genomic elements such as enhancers. RNA from 8 Early Onset Preeclampsia placentas and 8 gestational age matched controls
Project description:Hypertension in pregnancy is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in pregnancy, affecting up to 10% of all gestations1. Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy include chronic hypertension, gestational hypertension, eclampsia and pre-eclampsia, all of which increase the risk of complications in both mothers and babies during gestation. Preeclampsia, in particular, is characterised by the new-onset of gestational hypertension in the presence of proteinuria or other organ damage. It affects 5-7% of pregnancies and causes approximately 76,000 maternal deaths and 500,000 foetal deaths worldwide each year2. The classification of preeclampsia has been evolving over the last decade. In 2013, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and International Society for the Study of Hypertension in Pregnancy (ISSHP) in the absence of proteinuria included other symptoms/features including liver dysfunction, thrombocytopenia, cerebrovascular events or foetal growth restriction (FGR) in the diagnosis of preeclampsia 1,3,4. Despite the fact that preeclampsia is a multifactorial and heterogeneous disorder, it is now widely accepted that preeclampsia is stratified depending on the time of onset into: i) early-onset PE (EOPE) manifested before 34 weeks of gestation, and ii) late-onset PE (LOPE) manifested from 34 weeks of gestation. Although EOPE and LOPE share the same diagnostic criteria, these two phenotypes of preeclampsia lead to different outcomes. EOPE is commonly associated with FGR, abnormal uterine artery Doppler often leading to preterm birth and higher risk of post-pregnancy morbidities5,6. On the other hand, LOPE appears to be a less severe disorder, often with normal or slightly increased uterine resistance index and a low rate of FGR6,7. Distinct delineation between EOPE and LOPE is still not well understood, with most patients with preeclampsia presenting elements of both pathologies proposing a clinical spectrum for preeclampsia. The lack of untargeted discovery studies involving ‘omics’ analyses has impeded understanding of the molecular differences between these two phenotypes of preeclampsia. Notably, a study from 20058 utilised a proteomics approach using urine samples from a cohort of pregnant women with EOPE and healthy controls, however the differences between EOPE and LOPE were not elucidated. Another more recent bioinformatics study, identified overlapping pathogenic mechanisms between preeclampsia, hypertension and heart disease but could not stratify between EOPE and LOPE due to underreported of data related to individual phenotypes9. In this study, we conducted an unbiased, comprehensive proteomics investigation using plasma samples collected from patients with EOPE (n=17) and LOPE (n=11), compared with age- and BMI-matched normotensive controls (n=18). The use of plasma samples is able to better reflect the pathogenesis of EOPE and LOPE as systemic conditions centred by widespread endothelial dysfunction.
Project description:Comparison of genes associated with the EMT between undifferentiated cytotrophoblast cells (CTB) and differentiated extravillous trophoblast cells (EVT) from third trimester human placenta. Cells isolated from control (placenta previa) and cases (preeclampsia). Cells isolated by immunomagnetic separation using anti-integrin beta4 antibody to purify CTB and anti-HLA-G antibody to purify EVT.
Project description:We investigated the DNA methylation and gene expression of 20 chorionic villi samples from early onset preeclampsia placentas to 20 gestational age matched controls. From this we were able to see a widespread disregulation in DNA methylation across a subset of genes in the genome. This may help to elucidate the underlying biological problems that lead to early onset preeclampsia. We noted that there were DNA methylation changes in many genes of importance as well as in different genomic elements such as enhancers.
Project description:Preeclampsia is one of the leading causes of maternal death worldwide. While the root cause is still unknown, the underlying biology of the disorder is becoming more clear. We recently published a study showing large, significant differences in DNA methylation in 3rd trimester placental samples associated with early-onset preeclampsia (EOPET) compared to controls. In this study, to identify DNA methylation differences associated with preeclampsia that occur early in pregnancy and to further delineate common EOPET-associated differences, we utilized a genetic defect, trisomy 16 (T16), that is predisposing to preeclampsia. We ran T16 placental samples from the 1st trimester (n=5) and 3rd trimester (n=10) against gestational age matched controls on the Illumina Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChip. Third trimester samples were from pregnancies with T16 confined to the placenta (confined placental mosaicism 16;CPM16), and consisted of samples that were and were not associated with EOPET (n=5 each). We identified a large number of DNA methylation differences in CPM16 samples compared to controls using stringent criteria (n=2254;False Discovery Rate <0.01, ->0.15). Several of these differences (11%) overlapped differences observed in chromosomally normal EOPET using similarly stringent criteria (FDR<0.01;->0.125). Isolating EOPET-associated probes produced a similar - distribution amongst CPM16 samples, although samples associated with EOPET showed a tendency towards larger DNA methylation differences. We also identified 262 DNA methylation differences between 1st trimester T16 and 1st trimester controls. Of these, 77 overlapped differences seen in 3rd trimester CPM16. Investigating these 77 T16/CPM16 specific DNA methylation differences, we identified three probes near two genes (ARGHEF37 and JUNB) that were also present as EOPET-associated methylation differences. In summary, we identified significant overlapping DNA methylation profiles of placentas with T16 and chromosomally normal placentas associated with EOPET. Specific DNA methylation marks within these profiles may be of future clinical utility in early identification of pregnancies susceptible to EOPET. Bisulfite converted DNA from 5 1st trimester trisomy 16 placentas, 5 chromosomally normal 1st trimester placentas, 10 third trimester placentas from confined placental mosaicism placentas and 10 chromosomally normal 3rd trimester placentas
Project description:To investigate the differentially expressed mRNAs and microRNAs in human placenta between early-onset preeclampsia (EO-PE) and preterm birth controls (PTB), next generation sequencing was performed in 5 paired EO-PE and PTB placentas.