Project description:To investigate differences in gene expression between bulk NK cells from naturally cycling endometrium versus bulk NK cells from superovulated endometrium, we performed bulk RNAseq of sort-purified endometrial NK cells.
Project description:As part of an investigation on contributors to offspring size following assisted reproduction, we investigated maternal mid-/late-pregnancy peripheral blood buffy coat DNA methylation at 240 CpGs previously associated with maternal pregnancy morbidity or offspring growth across various tissues. Illumina Infinium MethylationEPIC BeadChip was used to obtain DNA methylation profiles in previously frozen buffy coat samples from 70 women who conceived via assisted reproduction technologies and gave live births and 845 women who spotaneously conceived and gave live births.
Project description:As part of an investigation on contributors to offspring size following assisted reproduction, we investigated fetal cord tissue DNA methylation at 281 CpGs previously associated with maternal pregnancy morbidity or offspring growth across various tissues. The Illumina HumanMethylation450 BeadChip was used to obtain DNA methylation profiles in previously frozen cord tissues samples from 69 assisted reproduction-conceived and 950 spotaneously conceived live births.
Project description:Alterations in genomic imprinting are posited as a mechanism for effects of assisted reproduction technologies (ART) and in vitro fertilization (IVF) on long term offspring phenotype. Our previous work has investigated the role of fetal cord tissue DNA methylation in mediating these relationships (Huang, et al. 2021. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-25899-4). To study the extent to which fetal-derived placental DNA methylation may mediate these relationships, we conducted a nested cohort study within the Growing Up in Singapore Towards healthy Outcomes (GUSTO) prospective parent-offspring study. We assayed DNA methylation in 408 bulk placental tissue samples arising from 200 placenta obtained at the time of live singleton birth. We oversampled on the basis of conceptions via IVF (ART group) and spontaneous conceptions amongst couples where the father had one or more cardiometabolic risk factors (advanced age, obesity, hypertension, or diabetes history; SC_HIGHRISK group). We then took a random sample of all other spontaneous conceptions (SC_RANDOM). For each of 200 placentas, one sample each was taken from the fetal-facing and maternal facing side of the (fetal-derived) placenta. An additional 8 technical replicated were assayed resulted in the 408 total samples. After QC and elimination of replicates, DNA methylation data were available from 196 unique fetal-facing and 195 maternal-facing placental bulk tissue samples. These repeated measures were used to reduce residual technical and unmeasured confounding biases in downstream analyses.
Project description:Maternal infections during pregnancy pose an increased risk for neurodevelopmental psychiatric disorders (NPDs) in the offspring. Here, we examined age- and sex-dependent dynamic changes of the hippocampal synaptic proteome after viral-like maternal immune activation (MIA) in embryonic and adult mice.
Project description:STUDY QUESTION: Could clinically-relevant moderate and/or high dose maternal folic acid supplementation prevent aberrant developmental and epigenetic outcomes associated with assisted reproductive technologies (ART)? SUMMARY ANSWER: Our results demonstrate dose-dependent and sex-specific effects of folic acid supplementation in ART and provide evidence that moderate dose supplements may be optimal for both sexes. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: Children conceived using ART are at an increased risk for growth and genomic imprinting disorders, often associated with DNA methylation defects. Folic acid supplementation is recommended during pregnancy to prevent adverse offspring outcomes; however, the effects of folic acid supplementation in ART remain unclear. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION: Outbred female mice were fed 3 folic-acid supplemented diets, control (rodent daily recommended intake or DRI; CD), moderate (4-fold DRI; 4FASD) or high (10-fold DRI; 10FASD) dose, for six weeks prior to ART and throughout gestation. Mouse ART involved a combination of superovulation, in vitro fertilization, embryo culture and embryo transfer. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS: Upon collection of midgestation embryos and placentas (n=74-99 embryos/group), all embryos were assessed for developmental delay and gross morphological abnormalities. Embryos and placentas were also examined at the epigenetic level. We assessed methylation at four imprinted genes (Snrpn, Kcnq1ot1, Peg1, and H19) in matched midgestation embryos and placentas (n=31-32/group) using bisulfite pyrosequencing. In addition, we examined genome-wide DNA methylation patterns in midgestation placentas (n=6 normal placentas per sex/group) and embryos (n=6 normal female embryos/group; n=3 delayed female embryos/group) using reduced representation bisulfite sequencing. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE: Moderate, but not high dose supplementation, was associated with a decrease in the proportion of developmentally delayed embryos. Although moderate dose folic acid supplementation reduced DNA methylation variance at certain imprinted genes in embryonic and placental tissues, high dose supplementation exacerbated the negative effects of ART at imprinted loci. Furthermore, folic acid supplements resolved female-biased aberrant imprinted gene methylation. Supplementation was more effective at correcting ART-induced genome-wide methylation defects in male versus female placentas; however, folic acid supplementation also led to additional methylation perturbations which were far more pronounced in males. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION: Although the combination of mouse ARTs utilized in this study consisted of techniques commonly used in human fertility clinics, there may be species differences. Therefore, human studies, designed to determine the optimal levels of folic acid supplementation for ART pregnancies, and taking into account fetal sex, are warranted. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS: Taken together, our findings support moderation in the dose of folic acid supplements taken during ART.