Project description:The discovery of fetal mRNA transcripts in maternal circulation holds great promise for noninvasive prenatal diagnosis. To identify potential fetal biomarkers, we studied whole blood and plasma transcripts common to term pregnant women and their newborns but reduced or absent in the postpartum mothers. In whole blood, 157 potentially-fetal transcripts were identified. RT-PCR confirmed the presence of specific transcripts, SNP analysis confirmed the presence of fetal transcripts in maternal circulation. Comparison of whole blood and plasma samples from the same women suggested that placental genes are more easily detected in plasma. We conclude that fetal and placental mRNA circulates in the blood of pregnant women.
Project description:Acetaminophen (APAP) is clinically recommended as analgesic and antipyretic among pregnant women. However, accumulating laboratory evidence shows that the use of APAP during pregnancy may alter fetal development. Since fetal stage is a susceptible window for early oogenesis, we aim to assess the potential effects of maternal administration of APAP on fetal oocytes. Maternal administration and the fetal ovary cultures showed that APAP (50 and 150 mg/kg.bw/day) caused meiotic aberrations in fetal oocytes through its metabolite NAPQI, including meiotic prophase I (MPI) progression delay and homologous recombination defects. Co-treatment with NAM or NRC, NAD+ supplements, efficiently restored the MPI arrest, while the addition of the inhibitor of SIRT7 invalidated the effect of the NAD+ supplement. Additionally, RNA sequencing revealed distorted transcriptomes of fetal ovaries treated with NAPQI. Further, the fecundity of female offspring was affected, exhibiting as delayed primordial folliculogenesis and puberty onset, reduced levels of ovarian hormones, and impaired developmental competence of MII oocytes. Short-term administration of APAP to pregnant mouse caused meiotic aberrations in fetal oocytes by its metabolite NAPQI, while co-treatment with NAD+ supplement efficiently relieves the adverse effects by interacting with SIRT7.
Project description:One physiological function proposed for RNA interference (RNAi) is to constrain expression of repetitive elements and thereby reduce the incidence of retrotransposition. Consistent with this model is that inhibiting the RNAi pathway results in an increase in expression of repetitive elements in preimplantation mouse embryos. Mouse oocytes are essentially transcriptionally quiescent providing a unique opportunity to assess the stability of repetitive element-derived transcripts in these cells. We compared the transcriptome of freshly isolated fully-grown germinal vesicle (GV)-intact oocytes to that of oocytes in which meiotic maturation in vitro was inhibited for 48 h by milrinone. Consistent with the aforementioned function for RNAi is that the abundance of only a relatively small number of transcripts decreased in the cultured oocytes, when compared to changes that occur during maturation or following fertilization, and of those, several belonged to mobile elements. Keywords: untreated GV oocytes and GV oocytes cultured in milrinone for 48h
Project description:One physiological function proposed for RNA interference (RNAi) is to constrain expression of repetitive elements and thereby reduce the incidence of retrotransposition. Consistent with this model is that inhibiting the RNAi pathway results in an increase in expression of repetitive elements in preimplantation mouse embryos. Mouse oocytes are essentially transcriptionally quiescent providing a unique opportunity to assess the stability of repetitive element-derived transcripts in these cells. We compared the transcriptome of freshly isolated fully-grown germinal vesicle (GV)-intact oocytes to that of oocytes in which meiotic maturation in vitro was inhibited for 48 h by milrinone. Consistent with the aforementioned function for RNAi is that the abundance of only a relatively small number of transcripts decreased in the cultured oocytes, when compared to changes that occur during maturation or following fertilization, and of those, several belonged to mobile elements. Experiment Overall Design: untreated GV oocytes (four replicates), GV oocytes cultured in milrinome for 48h (four replicates)
Project description:The discovery of fetal mRNA transcripts in maternal circulation holds great promise for noninvasive prenatal diagnosis. To identify potential fetal biomarkers, we studied whole blood and plasma transcripts common to term pregnant women and their newborns but reduced or absent in the postpartum mothers. In whole blood, 157 potentially-fetal transcripts were identified. RT-PCR confirmed the presence of specific transcripts, SNP analysis confirmed the presence of fetal transcripts in maternal circulation. Comparison of whole blood and plasma samples from the same women suggested that placental genes are more easily detected in plasma. We conclude that fetal and placental mRNA circulates in the blood of pregnant women. [I] We profiled whole antepartum (A), postpartum (P), and umbilical cord (U) blood samples from each of 9 mothers and their 10 newborns (1 set of twins, denoted as a and b after the sample names). [II] We also profiled plasma samples (A, P, and U) from three of those mothers to allow for a direct comparison between blood and plasma.