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Zhang M, Li K, Qu S, Guo Z, Wang Y, Yang X, Zhou J, Ouyang G, Weng R, Li F, Wu Y, Yang X. Integrative analyses of maternal plasma cell-free DNA nucleosome footprint differences reveal chromosomal aneuploidy fetuses gene expression profile. J Transl Med 2022; 20:536. [PMID: 36401256 PMCID: PMC9673457 DOI: 10.1186/s12967-022-03735-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2022] [Accepted: 10/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Chromosomal aneuploidy is the most common birth defect. However, the developmental mechanism and gene expression profile of fetuses with chromosomal aneuploidy are relatively unknown, and the maternal immune changes induced by fetal aneuploidy remain unclear. The inability to obtain the placenta multiple times in real-time is a bottleneck in research on aneuploid pregnancies. Plasma cell-free DNA (cfDNA) carries the gene expression profile information of its source cells and may be used to evaluate the development of fetuses with aneuploidy and the immune changes induced in the mother owing to fetal aneuploidy. Methods Here, we carried out whole-genome sequencing of the plasma cfDNA of 101 pregnant women carrying a fetus with trisomy (trisomy 21, n = 42; trisomy 18, n = 28; trisomy 13, n = 31) based on non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) screening and 140 normal pregnant women to identify differential genes according to the cfDNA nucleosome profile in the region around the transcription start sites (TSSs). Results The plasma cfDNA promoter profiles were found to differ between aneuploid and euploid pregnancies. A total of 158 genes with significant differences were identified, of which 43 genes were upregulated and 98 genes were downregulated. Functional enrichment and signaling pathway analysis were performed based on Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) databases found that these signal pathways were mainly related to the coordination of developmental signals during embryonic development, the control of cell growth and development, regulation of neuronal survival, and immune regulation, such as the MAPK, Hippo, TGF-β, and Rap1 signaling pathways, which play important roles in the development of embryonic tissues and organs. Furthermore, based on the results of differential gene analysis, a total of 14 immune-related genes with significant differences from the ImmPort database were collected and analyzed. These significantly different immune genes were mainly associated with the maintenance of embryonic homeostasis and normal development. Conclusions These results suggest that the distribution characteristics of cfDNA nucleosomes in maternal plasma can be used to reflect the status of fetal development and changes of the immune responses in trisomic pregnancies. Overall, our findings may provide research ideas for non-invasive detection of the physiological and pathological states of other diseases. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12967-022-03735-7.
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Weiner CP, Weiss ML, Zhou H, Syngelaki A, Nicolaides KH, Dong Y. Detection of Embryonic Trisomy 21 in the First Trimester Using Maternal Plasma Cell-Free RNA. Diagnostics (Basel) 2022; 12:1410. [PMID: 35741220 PMCID: PMC9221829 DOI: 10.3390/diagnostics12061410] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2022] [Revised: 06/03/2022] [Accepted: 06/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Prenatal trisomy 21 (T21) screening commonly involves testing a maternal blood sample for fetal DNA aneuploidy. It is reliable but poses a cost barrier to universal screening. We hypothesized maternal plasma RNA screening might provide similar reliability but at a lower cost. Discovery experiments used plasma cell-free RNA from 20 women 11−13 weeks tested by RNA and miRNA microarrays followed by qRT-PCR. Thirty-six mRNAs and 18 small RNAs of the discovery cDNA were identified by qPCR as potential markers of embryonic T21. The second objective was validation of the RNA predictors in 998 independent pregnancies at 11−13 weeks including 50 T21. Initial analyses identified 9−15 differentially expressed RNA with modest predictive power (AUC < 0.70). The 54 RNAs were then subjected to machine learning. Eleven algorithms were trained on one partition and tested on an independent partition. The three best algorithms were identified by Kappa score and the effects of training/testing partition size and dataset class imbalance on prediction were evaluated. Six to ten RNAs predicted T21 with AUCs up to 1.00. The findings suggest that maternal plasma collected at 11−13 weeks, tested by qRT-PCR, and classified by machine learning, may accurately predict T21 for a lower cost than plasma DNA, thus opening the door to universal screening.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carl P. Weiner
- Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Molecular and Integrative Physiology, University of Kansas School of Medicine, Kansas City, KS 66160, USA;
- Rosetta Signaling Laboratory, Phoenix, AZ 85018, USA;
| | - Mark L. Weiss
- Departments of Anatomy and Physiology & Midwest Institute of Comparative Stem Cell Biology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA;
| | - Helen Zhou
- Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Molecular and Integrative Physiology, University of Kansas School of Medicine, Kansas City, KS 66160, USA;
| | - Argyro Syngelaki
- Fetal Medicine Research Institute, King’s College Hospital, London SE5 9RS, UK; (A.S.); (K.H.N.)
| | - Kypros H. Nicolaides
- Fetal Medicine Research Institute, King’s College Hospital, London SE5 9RS, UK; (A.S.); (K.H.N.)
| | - Yafeng Dong
- Rosetta Signaling Laboratory, Phoenix, AZ 85018, USA;
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Peeters D, Pico-Knijnenburg I, Wieringa D, Rad M, Cuperus R, Ruige M, Froeling F, Zijp GW, van der Burg M, Driessen GJA. AKT Hyperphosphorylation and T Cell Exhaustion in Down Syndrome. Front Immunol 2022; 13:724436. [PMID: 35222360 PMCID: PMC8866941 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.724436] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2021] [Accepted: 01/24/2022] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Down syndrome (DS) is associated with increased susceptibility to infections, auto-immunity, immunodeficiency and haematological malignancies. The exact underlying immunological pathophysiology is still unclear. The immunophenotype and clinical characteristics of DS resemble those of Activated PI3K Delta Syndrome (APDS), in which the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway is overactivated. We hypothesized that T cell exhaustion and the hyperactivation of the AKT signalling pathway is also present in immune cells of children with DS. In this observational non-interventional cohort study we collected blood samples of children with DS (n=22) and healthy age-matched controls (n=21) for flowcytometric immunophenotyping, phospho-flow AKT analysis and exhaustion analysis of T cells. The median age was 5 years (range 1-12y). Total T and NK cells were similar for both groups, but absolute values and transitional B cells, naive memory B cells and naive CD4+ and CD8+ T cells were lower in DS. pAKT and AKT were increased for CD3+ and CD4+ T cells and CD20+ B cells in children with DS. Total AKT was also increased in CD8+ T cells. Children with DS showed increased expression of inhibitory markers Programmed cell dealth-1 (PD-1), CD244 and CD160 on CD8+ T cells and increased PD-1 and CD244+ expression on CD4+ T cells, suggesting T cell exhaustion. Children with DS show increased pAKT and AKT and increased T cell exhaustion, which might contribute to their increased susceptibility to infections, auto immunity and haematological malignancies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daphne Peeters
- Department of Pediatrics, Juliana Children's Hospital, The Hague, Netherlands
| | - Ingrid Pico-Knijnenburg
- Department of Pediatrics, Laboratory for Pediatric Immunology, Willem-Alexander Children's Hospital, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, Netherlands
| | - Douwe Wieringa
- Department of Pediatrics, Laboratory for Pediatric Immunology, Willem-Alexander Children's Hospital, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, Netherlands
| | - Mandana Rad
- Department of Pediatric Anaesthesiology, Juliana Children's Hospital/Haga Teaching Hospital, The Hague, Netherlands
| | - Roos Cuperus
- Department of Pediatrics, Juliana Children's Hospital, The Hague, Netherlands
| | - Madelon Ruige
- Department of Pediatrics, Juliana Children's Hospital, The Hague, Netherlands
| | - Frank Froeling
- Department of Pediatric Urology, Juliana Children's Hospital, The Hague, Netherlands
| | - Gerda W Zijp
- Department of Paediatric Surgery, Juliana Children's Hospital, The Hague, Netherlands
| | - Mirjam van der Burg
- Department of Pediatrics, Laboratory for Pediatric Immunology, Willem-Alexander Children's Hospital, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, Netherlands
| | - Gertjan J A Driessen
- Department of Pediatrics, Juliana Children's Hospital, The Hague, Netherlands.,Department of Paediatrics, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, Netherlands
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4
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Wang J, Chen Z, He F, Lee T, Cai W, Chen W, Miao N, Zeng Z, Hussain G, Yang Q, Guo Q, Sun T. Single-Cell Transcriptomics of Cultured Amniotic Fluid Cells Reveals Complex Gene Expression Alterations in Human Fetuses With Trisomy 18. Front Cell Dev Biol 2022; 10:825345. [PMID: 35392164 PMCID: PMC8980718 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2022.825345] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2021] [Accepted: 02/24/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Trisomy 18, commonly known as Edwards syndrome, is the second most common autosomal trisomy among live born neonates. Multiple tissues including cardiac, abdominal, and nervous systems are affected by an extra chromosome 18. To delineate the complexity of anomalies of trisomy 18, we analyzed cultured amniotic fluid cells from two euploid and three trisomy 18 samples using single-cell transcriptomics. We identified 6 cell groups, which function in development of major tissues such as kidney, vasculature and smooth muscle, and display significant alterations in gene expression as detected by single-cell RNA-sequencing. Moreover, we demonstrated significant gene expression changes in previously proposed trisomy 18 critical regions, and identified three new regions such as 18p11.32, 18q11 and 18q21.32, which are likely associated with trisomy 18 phenotypes. Our results indicate complexity of trisomy 18 at the gene expression level and reveal genetic reasoning of diverse phenotypes in trisomy 18 patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jing Wang
- Center for Precision Medicine, School of Medicine and School of Biomedical Sciences, Huaqiao University, Xiamen, China
- College of Materials Science and Engineering, Huaqiao University, Xiamen, China
| | - Zixi Chen
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Bioresource and Eco- Environmental Science, Shenzhen Engineering Laboratory for Marine Algal Biotechnology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory for Plant Epigenetics, College of Life Sciences and Oceanography, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Fei He
- Genergy Bio-Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd, Shanghai, China
| | - Trevor Lee
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Cornell University Weill Medical College, New York, NY, United States
| | - Wenjie Cai
- Department of Radiation Oncology, First Hospital of Quanzhou, Fujian Medical University, Quanzhou, China
| | - Wanhua Chen
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, First Hospital of Quanzhou, Fujian Medical University, Quanzhou, China
| | - Nan Miao
- Center for Precision Medicine, School of Medicine and School of Biomedical Sciences, Huaqiao University, Xiamen, China
| | - Zhiwei Zeng
- Center for Precision Medicine, School of Medicine and School of Biomedical Sciences, Huaqiao University, Xiamen, China
| | - Ghulam Hussain
- Neurochemical Biology and Genetics Laboratory, Department of Physiology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Government College University, Faisalabad, Pakistan
| | - Qingwei Yang
- Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Zhongshan Hospital, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
| | - Qiwei Guo
- United Diagnostic and Research Center for Clinical Genetics, School of Medicine and School of Public Health, Women and Children’s Hospital, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
- *Correspondence: Qiwei Guo, ; Tao Sun,
| | - Tao Sun
- Center for Precision Medicine, School of Medicine and School of Biomedical Sciences, Huaqiao University, Xiamen, China
- *Correspondence: Qiwei Guo, ; Tao Sun,
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Lopatkina ME, Lebedev IN. Transcriptome Analysis as a Tool for Investigation of Pathogenesis of Chromosomal Diseases. RUSS J GENET+ 2020. [DOI: 10.1134/s1022795420050099] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
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Locatelli P, Belaich MN, López AE, Olea FD, Uranga Vega M, Giménez CS, Simonin JA, Bauzá MDR, Castillo MG, Cuniberti LA, Crottogini A, Cerrudo CS, Ghiringhelli PD. Novel insights into cardiac regeneration based on differential fetal and adult ovine heart transcriptomic analysis. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 2020; 318:H994-H1007. [PMID: 32167779 DOI: 10.1152/ajpheart.00610.2019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
The adult mammalian cardiomyocyte has a very limited capacity to reenter the cell cycle and advance into mitosis. Therefore, diseases characterized by lost contractile tissue usually evolve into myocardial remodeling and heart failure. Analyzing the cardiac transcriptome at different developmental stages in a large mammal closer to the human than laboratory rodents may serve to disclose positive and negative cardiomyocyte cell cycle regulators potentially targetable to induce cardiac regeneration in the clinical setting. Thus we aimed at characterizing the transcriptomic profiles of the early fetal, late fetal, and adult sheep heart by employing RNA-seq technique and bioinformatic analysis to detect protein-encoding genes that in some of the stages were turned off, turned on, or differentially expressed. Genes earlier proposed as positive cell cycle regulators such as cyclin A, cdk2, meis2, meis3, and PCNA showed higher expression in fetal hearts and lower in AH, as expected. In contrast, genes previously proposed as cell cycle inhibitors, such as meis1, p16, and sav1, tended to be higher in fetal than in adult hearts, suggesting that these genes are involved in cell processes other than cell cycle regulation. Additionally, we described Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment of different sets of genes. GO analysis revealed that differentially expressed gene sets were mainly associated with metabolic and cellular processes. The cell cycle-related genes fam64a, cdc20, and cdk1, and the metabolism-related genes pitx and adipoq showed strong differential expression between fetal and adult hearts, thus being potent candidates to be targeted in human cardiac regeneration strategies.NEW & NOTEWORTHY We characterized the transcriptomic profiles of the fetal and adult sheep hearts employing RNAseq technique and bioinformatic analyses to provide sets of transcripts whose variation in expression level may link them to a specific role in cell cycle regulation. It is important to remark that this study was performed in a large mammal closer to humans than laboratory rodents. In consequence, the results can be used for further translational studies in cardiac regeneration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paola Locatelli
- Instituto de Medicina Traslacional, Trasplante y Bioingeniería (IMETTYB), Universidad Favaloro-CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Mariano N Belaich
- Laboratorio de Ingeniería Genética y Biología Celular y Molecular; CONICET, Instituto de Microbiología Básica y Aplicada, Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad Nacional de Quilmes, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Ayelén E López
- Instituto de Medicina Traslacional, Trasplante y Bioingeniería (IMETTYB), Universidad Favaloro-CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Fernanda D Olea
- Instituto de Medicina Traslacional, Trasplante y Bioingeniería (IMETTYB), Universidad Favaloro-CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Martín Uranga Vega
- Instituto de Medicina Traslacional, Trasplante y Bioingeniería (IMETTYB), Universidad Favaloro-CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Carlos S Giménez
- Instituto de Medicina Traslacional, Trasplante y Bioingeniería (IMETTYB), Universidad Favaloro-CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Jorge Alejandro Simonin
- Laboratorio de Ingeniería Genética y Biología Celular y Molecular; CONICET, Instituto de Microbiología Básica y Aplicada, Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad Nacional de Quilmes, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - María Del Rosario Bauzá
- Instituto de Medicina Traslacional, Trasplante y Bioingeniería (IMETTYB), Universidad Favaloro-CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Marta G Castillo
- Instituto de Medicina Traslacional, Trasplante y Bioingeniería (IMETTYB), Universidad Favaloro-CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Luis A Cuniberti
- Instituto de Medicina Traslacional, Trasplante y Bioingeniería (IMETTYB), Universidad Favaloro-CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Alberto Crottogini
- Instituto de Medicina Traslacional, Trasplante y Bioingeniería (IMETTYB), Universidad Favaloro-CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Carolina S Cerrudo
- Laboratorio de Ingeniería Genética y Biología Celular y Molecular; CONICET, Instituto de Microbiología Básica y Aplicada, Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad Nacional de Quilmes, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Pablo D Ghiringhelli
- Laboratorio de Ingeniería Genética y Biología Celular y Molecular; CONICET, Instituto de Microbiología Básica y Aplicada, Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad Nacional de Quilmes, Buenos Aires, Argentina
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7
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Tiegs AW, Sun L, Patounakis G, Scott RT. Worth the wait? Day 7 blastocysts have lower euploidy rates but similar sustained implantation rates as Day 5 and Day 6 blastocysts. Hum Reprod 2019; 34:1632-1639. [DOI: 10.1093/humrep/dez138] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2019] [Revised: 06/11/2019] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
STUDY QUESTION
Does the reproductive potential of embryos change when blastocyst development takes longer than the traditionally accepted 5 days when accounting for aneuploidy and endometrial-embryo asynchrony?
SUMMARY ANSWER
Aneuploidy increases with increasing duration of blastulation, but if blastocyst morphologic quality and endometrial-embryo asynchrony are controlled for, euploid Day 7 embryos have similar sustained implantation as compared to Days 5 and 6 euploid blastocysts.
WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY
The relative contributions of diminished embryo quality versus endometrial and embryo asynchrony to poor outcomes associated with embryos cultured past Day 6 are not clear. Asynchrony can be eliminated by embryo vitrification with transfer in a subsequent month after retrieval.
STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION
Retrospective cohort study of patients from a single center attempting conception through ICSI and utilizing preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy screening (PGT-A) from January 2017 to September 2018. Cycles were excluded if they utilized surgical sperm or preimplantation genetic testing for monogenetic/single gene defects. ICSI cycle outcomes from 2586 patients were evaluated for ploidy status of embryos.
PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS
Only patients undergoing single, euploid frozen embryo transfer were included when analyzing cycle outcomes by day of blastocyst expansion of the transferred embryo (n = 2130). Ploidy rates by the day upon which an embryo was considered to be usable (denoted, ‘usable blastulation day’) were determined so as to assess the contribution of aneuploidy to slow embryo development. Outcomes of euploid frozen single embryo transfers (SET) of Day 7 embryos were evaluated to assess the reproductive potential associated with embryos that were slowly developing for reasons other than aneuploidy. Analyses were adjusted by maternal age and blastocyst morphology.
MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE
Overall, 67.7% (n = 3508) of usable Day 5 blastocysts were euploid, 52.1% (n = 5560) of usable Day 6 blastocysts were euploid and 43.1% (n = 229) of usable Day 7 embryos were euploid (Day 5 versus Day 6: odds ratio (OR) 0.7 (95% CI, 0.64–0.76), P < 0.001; Day 5 versus Day 7: OR 0.56 (95% CI, 0.46–0.69), P < 0.001; Day 6 versus Day 7: OR 0.81 (95% CI, 0.67–0.99), P = 0.036). Stratified by Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology maternal age groups, a reduction in the prevalence of euploidy by increasing time to embryo blastulation was still seen. The sustained implantation rate (SIR) was similar after euploid SET of Days 5 and 6 embryos (overall, 68.9% (95% CI, 66.0–71.6) and 66.8% (95% CI, 63.8–69.7), respectively; P = 0.81). SIR after euploid Day 7 SET appeared slightly lower than that of Days 5 and 6 embryos (52.6% (95% CI, 35.8–69.0); (Day 5 versus Day 7: OR, 0.67 (95% CI, 0.32–1.41), P = 0.29; Day 6 versus Day 7: OR 0.58 (95% CI, 0.28–1.2), P = 0.14)) but did not achieve statistical significance.
LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION
The primary limitation is the low number of Day 7 blastocyst transfers that limits statistical power. Additionally, the retrospective nature of this study may prevent full elucidation of potential biases with respect to culture, morphologic assessment and selection of Day 7 embryos for transfer.
WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS
Routine culture through Day 7 may successfully increase the pool of transferrable embryos for patients who would otherwise have no usable embryos if culture terminated on Day 6. This is particularly true for older patients (i.e. greater than 35 years of age), whose embryos take longer to blastulate and, therefore, are more susceptible to cycle cancelation. Additionally, as evidenced by an adequate overall SIR of 52.6% after euploid SET of Day 7 blastocysts, embryos developing to a usable blastocyst on Day 7 are likely within the ‘window of blastulation.’
STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S)
None.
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Affiliation(s)
- A W Tiegs
- Instituto Valenciano de Infertilidad - Reproductive Medicine Associates (IVI-RMA), Basking Ridge, NJ, USA
- Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - L Sun
- Foundation for Embryonic Competence (FEC), Basking Ridge, NJ, USA
| | - G Patounakis
- Reproductive Medicine Associates of Florida, Orlando, FL 32746, USA
| | - R T Scott
- Instituto Valenciano de Infertilidad - Reproductive Medicine Associates (IVI-RMA), Basking Ridge, NJ, USA
- Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
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