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Jasper EA, Hellwege JN, Piekos JA, Jones SH, Hartmann KE, Mautz B, Aronoff DM, Edwards TL, Edwards DRV. Genetically-predicted placental gene expression is associated with birthweight and adult body mass index. Sci Rep 2023; 13:322. [PMID: 36609580 PMCID: PMC9822919 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-26572-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2022] [Accepted: 12/16/2022] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
The placenta is critical to human growth and development and has been implicated in health outcomes. Understanding the mechanisms through which the placenta influences perinatal and later-life outcomes requires further investigation. We evaluated the relationships between birthweight and adult body mass index (BMI) and genetically-predicted gene expression in human placenta. Birthweight genome-wide association summary statistics were obtained from the Early Growth Genetics Consortium (N = 298,142). Adult BMI summary statistics were obtained from the GIANT consortium (N = 681,275). We used S-PrediXcan to evaluate associations between the outcomes and predicted gene expression in placental tissue and, to identify genes where placental expression was exclusively associated with the outcomes, compared to 48 other tissues (GTEx v7). We identified 24 genes where predicted placental expression was significantly associated with birthweight, 15 of which were not associated with birthweight in any other tissue. One of these genes has been previously linked to birthweight. Analyses identified 182 genes where placental expression was associated with adult BMI, 110 were not associated with BMI in any other tissue. Eleven genes that had placental gene expression levels exclusively associated with BMI have been previously associated with BMI. Expression of a single gene, PAX4, was associated with both outcomes exclusively in the placenta. Inter-individual variation of gene expression in placental tissue may contribute to observed variation in birthweight and adult BMI, supporting developmental origins hypothesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth A Jasper
- Vanderbilt Genetics Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA.
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA.
| | - Jacklyn N Hellwege
- Vanderbilt Genetics Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
- Division of Genetic Medicine, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
- Vanderbilt Epidemiology Center, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | | | - Sarah H Jones
- Institute for Medicine and Public Health, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Katherine E Hartmann
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
- Vanderbilt Epidemiology Center, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
- Institute for Medicine and Public Health, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Brian Mautz
- Vanderbilt Genetics Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
- Vanderbilt Epidemiology Center, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
- Population Analytics, Analytics and Insights, Data Sciences, Janssen Research & Development, Spring House, PA, USA
| | - David M Aronoff
- Department of Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA
| | - Todd L Edwards
- Vanderbilt Genetics Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
- Institute for Medicine and Public Health, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
- Division of Epidemiology, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Digna R Velez Edwards
- Vanderbilt Genetics Institute, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA.
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA.
- Institute for Medicine and Public Health, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA.
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Tekola-Ayele F, Zeng X, Chatterjee S, Ouidir M, Lesseur C, Hao K, Chen J, Tesfaye M, Marsit CJ, Workalemahu T, Wapner R. Placental multi-omics integration identifies candidate functional genes for birthweight. Nat Commun 2022; 13:2384. [PMID: 35501330 PMCID: PMC9061712 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-30007-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2021] [Accepted: 04/11/2022] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Abnormal birthweight is associated with increased risk for cardiometabolic diseases in later life. Although the placenta is critical to fetal development and later life health, it has not been integrated into largescale functional genomics initiatives, and mechanisms of birthweight-associated variants identified by genome wide association studies (GWAS) are unclear. The goal of this study is to provide functional mechanistic insight into the causal pathway from a genetic variant to birthweight by integrating placental methylation and gene expression with established GWAS loci for birthweight. We identify placental DNA methylation and gene expression targets for several birthweight GWAS loci. The target genes are broadly enriched in cardiometabolic, immune response, and hormonal pathways. We find that methylation causally influences WNT3A, CTDNEP1, and RANBP2 expression in placenta. Multi-trait colocalization identifies PLEKHA1, FES, CTDNEP1, and PRMT7 as likely functional effector genes. These findings reveal candidate functional pathways that underpin the genetic regulation of birthweight via placental epigenetic and transcriptomic mechanisms. Clinical trial registration; ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT00912132.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fasil Tekola-Ayele
- Division of Population Health Research, Division of Intramural Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
| | - Xuehuo Zeng
- Division of Population Health Research, Division of Intramural Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Suvo Chatterjee
- Division of Population Health Research, Division of Intramural Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Marion Ouidir
- Division of Population Health Research, Division of Intramural Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Corina Lesseur
- Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Ke Hao
- Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Jia Chen
- Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Markos Tesfaye
- Section of Sensory Science and Metabolism (SenSMet), National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism & National Institute of Nursing Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Carmen J Marsit
- Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Tsegaselassie Workalemahu
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Maternal-Fetal Medicine, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - Ronald Wapner
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
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Chatterjee S, Zeng X, Ouidir M, Tesfaye M, Zhang C, Tekola-Ayele F. Sex-specific placental gene expression signatures of small for gestational age at birth. Placenta 2022; 121:82-90. [PMID: 35303517 PMCID: PMC9010378 DOI: 10.1016/j.placenta.2022.03.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2021] [Revised: 02/14/2022] [Accepted: 03/03/2022] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Small for gestational age at birth (SGA), often a consequence of placental dysfunction, is a risk factor for neonatal morbidity and later life cardiometabolic diseases. There are sex differences in placental gene expression and fetal growth. Here, we investigated sex-specific associations between gene expression in human placenta measured using RNA sequencing and SGA status using data from ethnic diverse pregnant women in the NICHD Fetal Growth Studies cohort (n = 74). METHODS Gene expression measures were obtained using RNA-Sequencing and differential gene expression between SGA (birthweight <10th percentile) and appropriate for gestational age (AGA: ≥10th and <90th percentile) was tested separately in males (12 SGA and 27 AGA) and females (9 SGA and 26 AGA) using a weighted mean of log ratios method with adjustment for mode of delivery and ethnicity. RESULTS At 5% false discovery rate (FDR), we identified 40 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) related to SGA status among males (95% up- and 5% down-regulated) and 314 DEGs among females (32.5% up- and 67.5% down-regulated). Seven female-specific DEGs overlapped with known imprinted genes (AXL, CYP24A1, GPR1, PLAGL1, CMTM1, DLX5, LY6D). The DEGs in males were significantly enriched for immune response and inflammation signaling pathways whereas the DEGs in females were enriched for organ development signaling pathways (FDR<0.05). Sex-combined analysis identified no additional DEGs, rather 98% of the sex-specific DEGs were no longer significant and the remaining 2% were attenuated. DISCUSSION This study revealed sex-specific human placental gene expression changes and molecular pathways associated with SGA and underscored that unravelling the pathogenesis of SGA warrants consideration of fetal sex as a biological variable. TRIAL REGISTRATION https://www. CLINICALTRIALS gov, Unique identifier: NCT00912132.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suvo Chatterjee
- Epidemiology Branch, Division of Population Health Research, Division of Intramural Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, 20892, MD, USA
| | - Xuehuo Zeng
- Epidemiology Branch, Division of Population Health Research, Division of Intramural Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, 20892, MD, USA
| | - Marion Ouidir
- Epidemiology Branch, Division of Population Health Research, Division of Intramural Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, 20892, MD, USA
| | - Markos Tesfaye
- Section of Sensory Science and Metabolism (SenSMet), National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism & National Institute of Nursing Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20814, USA
| | - Cuilin Zhang
- Epidemiology Branch, Division of Population Health Research, Division of Intramural Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, 20892, MD, USA
| | - Fasil Tekola-Ayele
- Epidemiology Branch, Division of Population Health Research, Division of Intramural Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, 20892, MD, USA.
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Chatterjee S, Ouidir M, Tekola-Ayele F. Pleiotropic genetic influence on birth weight and childhood obesity. Sci Rep 2021; 11:48. [PMID: 33420178 PMCID: PMC7794220 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-80084-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2020] [Accepted: 12/09/2020] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Childhood obesity is a global public health problem. Understanding the molecular mechanisms that underlie early origins of childhood obesity can facilitate interventions. Consistent phenotypic and genetic correlations have been found between childhood obesity traits and birth weight (a proxy for in-utero growth), suggesting shared genetic influences (pleiotropy). We aimed to (1) investigate whether there is significant shared genetic influence between birth weight and childhood obesity traits, and (2) to identify genetic loci with shared effects. Using a statistical approach that integrates summary statistics and functional annotations for paired traits, we found strong evidence of pleiotropy (P < 3.53 × 10–127) and enrichment of functional annotations (P < 1.62 × 10–39) between birth weight and childhood body mass index (BMI)/obesity. The pleiotropic loci were enriched for regulatory features in skeletal muscle, adipose and brain tissues and in cell lines derived from blood lymphocytes. At 5% false discovery rate, 6 loci were associated with birth weight and childhood BMI and 13 loci were associated with birth weight and childhood obesity. Out of these 19 loci, one locus (EBF1) was novel to childhood obesity and one locus (LMBR1L) was novel to both birth weight and childhood BMI/obesity. These findings give evidence of substantial shared genetic effects in the regulation of both fetal growth and childhood obesity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suvo Chatterjee
- Epidemiology Branch, Division of Intramural Population Health Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, 6710B Rockledge Drive, Room 3204, Bethesda, 20892-7004, USA
| | - Marion Ouidir
- Epidemiology Branch, Division of Intramural Population Health Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, 6710B Rockledge Drive, Room 3204, Bethesda, 20892-7004, USA
| | - Fasil Tekola-Ayele
- Epidemiology Branch, Division of Intramural Population Health Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, 6710B Rockledge Drive, Room 3204, Bethesda, 20892-7004, USA.
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