Project description:Background: Poor nutrition during development programs kidney function. No studies on postnatal consequences of decreased perinatal nutrition exist in nonhuman primates (NHP) for translation to human renal disease. Our baboon model of moderate maternal nutrient restriction (MNR) produces intrauterine growth restricted (IUGR) and programs renal fetal phenotype. We hypothesized that the IUGR phenotype persists postnatally influencing responses to a high-fat, high-carbohydrate, high-salt (HFCS) diet. Methods: Pregnant baboons ate chow Control (CON) or 70% of control intake (MNR) from 0.16 gestation through lactation. MNR offspring were IUGR at birth. At weaning, all offspring, (control and IUGR females and males n=3/group) ate chow. At ~3.5 years age, blood, urine, and kidney biopsies were collected before and after a 7-week high HFCS diet challenge. Kidney function, unbiased kidney gene expression, and untargeted urine metabolomics were evaluated. Results: IUGR female and male kidney transcriptome and urine metabolome differed from CON at 3.5 years, prior to HFCS. After the challenge, we observed sex-specific and fetal exposure-specific responses in urine creatinine, urine metabolites, and renal signaling pathways. Conclusions: We previously showed mTOR signaling dysregulation in IUGR fetal kidneys. Before HFCS, gene expression analysis indicated that dysregulation persists postnatally in IUGR females. IUGR male offspring response to HFCS showed uncoordinated signaling pathway responses suggestive of proximal tubule injury. To our knowledge, this is the first study comparing CON and IUGR postnatal juvenile NHP and the impact of fetal and postnatal life caloric mismatch. Perinatal history needs to be taken into account when assessing renal disease risk.
Project description:Fetal growth in utero is affected by both inherent genetic programming in combination with environmental factors, such as maternal health and nutrition. Epidemiologic data in growth-altered fetuses, either growth-restricted (IUGR) or large for gestational age (LGA), demonstrate compelling evidence that these fetuses are at increased risk for cardiovascular and metabolic disease in adulthood. In this study, we used RRBS to examine genome wide DNA methylation variation in placental samples from offspring born IUGR, LGA, and appropriate for gestational age (AGA). We identified almost 200 differentially methylated genes among these groups. Among these genes, the differentially methylated regions were disproportionately located in transcription-regulatory regions such as promoters. Our results suggest that the gene expression and methylation state of the human placenta are related and sensitive to the intrauterine environment. We profiled DNA methylation for 17 human placentas, in which 5 were from LGA, 6 from IUGR and 6 from AGA placentas as controls
Project description:In this study, we identify SYDE1 as a novel GCM1 target gene. We demonstrate that SYDE1 promotes placental cell migration and invasion and that the GCM1-SYDE1 axis is crucial for placental development. Importantly, retarded placental and fetal growth with defective spongiotrophoblast layer, compromised vasculogenesis, and abnormal maternal-trophoblast interface are noted in the Syde1 homozygous knockout (KO) placenta. Along this line, decreased SYDE1 expression is observed in human IUGR placentas. We further demonstrated that components of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) and Syde2 are differentially expressed in Syde1-KO placenta, which might contribute to normal neonatal delivery in Syde1-KO mothers
Project description:Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) has been linked to predisposition towards an unfavorable course of glomerulopathies and early loss of kidney function. This study was performed to identify transcriptional alterations in male IUGR rats during and at the end of nephrogenesis in order to generate hypotheses which molecular mechanisms contribute to adverse kidney programming. IUGR was induced by low protein (LP) diet throughout pregnancy, bilateral uterine vessel ligation (LIG), or intrauterine stress (IUS) by sham operation. Offspring of unimpaired dams served as controls. Significant acute kidney damage was ruled out by negative results for proteins indicative of ER-stress, autophagy, apoptosis or infiltration with macrophages. Renal gene expression was examined by transcriptome microarrays, demonstrating 53 (LP, n=12; LIG, n=32; IUS, n=9) and 134 (LP, n=10; LIG, n=41; IUS, n=83) differentially expressed transcripts on postnatal days (PND) 1 and 7, respectively. Reduced Pilra (all IUGR groups, PND 7), Nupr1 (LP and LIG, PND 7) and Kap (LIG, PND 1) as well as increased Ccl20, S100a8/a9 (LIG, PND 1), Ifna4 and Ltb4r2 (IUS, PND 7) indicated that inflammation-related molecular dysregulation could be a “common” feature after IUGR of different origins. Network analyses of transcripts and predicted upstream regulators hinted at proinflammatory adaptions mainly in LIG (arachidonic acid-binding, neutrophil aggregation, toll-like-receptor, NF-kappa B and TNF signaling) and dysregulation of AMPK and PPAR signaling in LP pups. The latter may increase susceptibility towards obesity-associated kidney damage. Western blots of the most prominent predicted upstream regulators confirmed significant dysregulation of RICTOR in LP (PND 7) and LIG pups (PND 1), suggesting that mTOR-related processes could further modulate kidney programming in these groups of IUGR pups.
Project description:Methylation profiling of CpG Island Methylation of genomic DNA samples extracted from placentae of Intra-Uterine Growth Restricted newborns and gestational age matched controls. These data can be used for methylation comparisons between these two types of samples. The results of such comparisons can be used to generate hypotheses on the involvement of DNA methylation variation in placenta development and fetal growth. Two-condition Methyl DNA Immunoprecipitation (MeDIP) experiment, IUGR vs. Control placenta samples. Biological replicates: 8 control, 8 IUGR cases.
Project description:An important question for the use of the mouse as a model for studying human disease is the degree of functional conservation of genetic control pathways from human to mouse. The human placenta and mouse placenta show structural similarities but there has been no systematic attempt to assess their molecular similarities or differences. We built a comprehensive database of protein and microarray data for the highly vascular exchange region micro-dissected from the human and mouse placenta near-term. Abnormalities in this region are associated with two of the most common and serious complications of human pregnancy, maternal preeclampsia (PE) and fetal intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), each disorder affecting ~5% of all pregnancies. To compare the gene expression patterns in the vascular exchange regions of the human (villus tree) and mouse (labyrinth) placenta. Keywords: comparison
Project description:The present study was designed to test the hypothesis that limited growth of the fetal liver in the model of maternal fasting is independent of well-characterized signaling mechanisms that are known to regulate somatic growth in adult animals. We profiled the fetal hepatic transcriptome and translatome in control (n=3) and IUGR (n=3) fetuses. To induce IUGR, pregnant dams were fasted for 48hr starting on E17, term being 21 days. Fetal rats were delivered by C-section and livers were removed. All livers were flash frozen in liquid nitrogen. RNA was extracted from polysomes that were generated using sucrose density fraction, as well as total liver. RNA was hybridized to Affymetrix GeneChip Rat Gene 1.0 ST Arrays.
Project description:Knowing the gene expression profiles of drug-metabolizing enzymes and transporters throughout gestation is important for understanding the mechanisms of pregnancy-induced changes in drug pharmacokinetics. In this study, we compared gene expression of drug-metabolizing enzymes and transporters in the maternal liver, kidney, small intestine, and placenta of pregnant mice throughout gestation by microarray analysis. Specifically, we investigated cytochrome P450 (Cyp), UDP-glucuronosyltranserase (Ugt), and sulfotransferase (Sult), as well as ATP-binding cassette (Abc) and solute carrier (Slc) transporters. We found that relatively few Ugt and Sult genes were impacted by pregnancy in maternal tissues and placenta. Cyp1a2, most Cyp2 isoforms, Cyp3a11, and Cyp3a13 in the liver were down-regulated, with the greatest changes occurring on gestation days (gd) 15 and 19 compared to non-pregnant controls (gd 0). However, Cyp2d40, Cyp3a16, Cyp3a41a, Cyp3a41b, and Cyp3a44 in the liver were induced throughout pregnancy. Cyp expression in mid-gestation placenta (gd 10 and 15) was generally greater than that in term placenta (gd 19). There were also notable changes in Abc and Slc transporters. Abcc3 in the liver was down-regulated by 60%, and Abcb1a, Abcc4, and Slco4c1 in the kidney were down-regulated by 30-60% on gd 15 and 19 versus gd 0. Abcc5 in the placenta was induced 3-fold on gd 10 versus gd 15 and 19, whereas Slc22a3 expression in the placenta on gd 10 was 90% lower than that on gd 15 and 19. Overall, this study demonstrates important gestational age-dependent expression of drug-metabolizing enzymes and transporter genes, which may have mechanistic relevance to human pregnancy. Ninety pregnant mice at gestational days 0, 7.5, 10, 15, and 19 (n = 5-6 per gestational age) were used for the maternal liver, kidney, small intestine and placenta. The placentas were collected on gestational days 10, 15, and 19.
Project description:The maternal and paternal copies of the genome are both required for mammalian development and this is primarily due to imprinted genes, those that are mono-allelically expressed based on parent-of-origin. Typically, this pattern of expression is regulated by differentially methylated regions (DMRs) that are established in the germline and maintained after fertilisation. There are a large number of germline DMRs that have not yet been associated with imprinting and their function in development is unknown. In this study, we developed a genome-wide approach to identify novel imprinted DMRs, specifically in the human placenta, and investigated the dynamics of imprinted DMRs during development in somatic and extra-embryonic tissues. DNA methylation was evaluated using the Illumina HumanMethylation450 array in 116 human tissue samples, publically available reduced representation bisulfite sequencing in the human embryo and germ cells, and targeted bisulfite sequencing in term placentas. 43 known and 101 novel imprinted DMRs were identified in the human placenta, by comparing methylation between diandric and digynic triploids and female and male gametes. 72 novel DMRs showed a pattern consistent with placental-specific imprinting and this mono-allelic methylation was entirely maternal in origin. Strikingly, these DMRs exhibited polymorphic imprinted methylation specifically in placenta. These data suggest that imprinting in human development is far more extensive and dynamic than previously reported and that the placenta preferentially maintains maternal germline-derived DNA methylation For the identification of imprinted DMRs in the placenta, chorionic villous samples from 5 diandric and 5 digynic triploids pregnancies were assayed, along with a pooled sample of complete hydatiform moles (CHM). Placental chorionic villous samples (n=63) included 29 control pregnancies delivered at term, while the remaining 34 were delivered preterm or miscarried, or had abnormal MSS results, IUGR or LOPET. The preterm births were associated with one or more of: preterm labour, premature rupture of membranes (PROM), chorioamnionitis, placental abruption, and incompetent cervix. All samples were determined to be chromosomally normal using standard karyotyping or comparative genome hybridization, as previously described (Robinson et al. 2010). Two to four independent sites were taken from each placenta and after DNA extraction from chorionic villous, the DNA was pooled before being utilized in this study. Thirty-three fetal tissues, including brain (n=8), spinal cord (n=7), muscle (n=9), and kidney (n=9) were collected from second trimester foetuses, as previously described (Price et al. 2012). Adult female whole blood samples (n=10) were collected from control women. Extra-embryonic cell types (n=19), including cord blood (embryonic), cord, amniotic membrane, chorionic membrane, 1st, 2nd and 3rd trimester trophoblast and mesenchyme, and decidua (maternal), were isolated from control placental samples.