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Raitoharju E, Rajić S, Marttila S. Non-coding 886 ( nc886/ vtRNA2-1), the epigenetic odd duck - implications for future studies. Epigenetics 2024; 19:2332819. [PMID: 38525792 DOI: 10.1080/15592294.2024.2332819] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2023] [Accepted: 03/14/2024] [Indexed: 03/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Non-coding 886 (nc886, vtRNA2-1) is the only human polymorphically imprinted gene, in which the methylation status is not determined by genetics. Existing literature regarding the establishment, stability and consequences of the methylation pattern, as well as the nature and function of the nc886 RNAs transcribed from the locus, are contradictory. For example, the methylation status of the locus has been reported to be stable through life and across somatic tissues, but also susceptible to environmental effects. The nature of the produced nc886 RNA(s) has been redefined multiple times, and in carcinogenesis, these RNAs have been reported to have conflicting roles. In addition, due to the bimodal methylation pattern of the nc886 locus, traditional genome-wide methylation analyses can lead to false-positive results, especially in smaller datasets. Herein, we aim to summarize the existing literature regarding nc886, discuss how the characteristics of nc886 give rise to contradictory results, as well as to reinterpret, reanalyse and, where possible, replicate the results presented in the current literature. We also introduce novel findings on how the distribution of the nc886 methylation pattern is associated with the geographical origins of the population and describe the methylation changes in a large variety of human tumours. Through the example of this one peculiar genetic locus and RNA, we aim to highlight issues in the analysis of DNA methylation and non-coding RNAs in general and offer our suggestions for what should be taken into consideration in future analyses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emma Raitoharju
- Molecular Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
- Finnish Cardiovascular Research Center Tampere, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
- Tays Research Services, Wellbeing Services County of Pirkanmaa, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland
| | - Sonja Rajić
- Molecular Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
| | - Saara Marttila
- Molecular Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
- Tays Research Services, Wellbeing Services County of Pirkanmaa, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland
- Gerontology Research Center, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
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Newman T, Bond DM, Ishihara T, Rizzoli P, Gouil Q, Hore TA, Shaw G, Renfree MB. PRKACB is a novel imprinted gene in marsupials. Epigenetics Chromatin 2024; 17:29. [PMID: 39342354 PMCID: PMC11438212 DOI: 10.1186/s13072-024-00552-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2024] [Accepted: 08/22/2024] [Indexed: 10/01/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Genomic imprinting results in parent-of-origin-specific gene expression and, among vertebrates, is found only in therian mammals: marsupials and eutherians. A differentially methylated region (DMR), in which the methylation status of CpG dinucleotides differs between the two alleles, can mark the parental identity of imprinted genes. We developed a computational pipeline that detected CpG islands (CGIs) marked by both methylated and unmethylated signals in whole genome bisulfite sequencing data. This approach identified candidate marsupial DMRs in a publicly available koala methylome. One of these candidate DMRs was associated with PRKACB, a gene encoding the protein kinase A catalytic subunit beta. Nothing is known about the imprinting status of PRKACB in eutherian mammals although mutations of this gene are associated with endocrine neoplasia and other developmental disorders. RESULTS In the tammar wallaby and brushtail possum there was parent-of-origin-specific DNA methylation in the PRKACB DMR in which the maternal allele was methylated and the paternal allele was unmethylated. There were multiple RNAs transcribed from this locus. Allele-specific expression analysis identified paternal expression of a PRKACB lncRNA and an mRNA isoform. Comparison of the PRKACB gene start site between marsupials and eutherians demonstrated that the CGI is longer in marsupials. The PRKACB gene product functions in the same signalling pathway as the guanine nucleotide-binding protein alpha subunit encoded at the GNAS locus, a known eutherian imprinted gene. In a mouse methylome Gnas had three differentially methylated CGIs, while in the koala methylome the GNAS locus had two unmethylated CGIs. CONCLUSIONS We conclude that PRKACB is a novel, DMR-associated marsupial imprinted gene. Imprinting of PRKACB in marsupials and GNAS in eutherians may indicate a conserved selection pressure for imprinting of the protein kinase A signalling pathway in therians with the two lineages adapting by imprinting different genes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Trent Newman
- School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, 3010, Australia
| | - Donna M Bond
- Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Teruhito Ishihara
- School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, 3010, Australia
- Epigenetics Programme, Babraham Institute, Cambridge, CB22 3AT, UK
| | - Phoebe Rizzoli
- School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, 3010, Australia
| | - Quentin Gouil
- Epigenetics and Development Division, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne, VIC, 3010, Australia
| | - Timothy A Hore
- Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Geoff Shaw
- School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, 3010, Australia
| | - Marilyn B Renfree
- School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, 3010, Australia.
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Zhang Y, Zheng Y, Yu W, Yang L, Zhang C, Li S, Li S. ZFAT (isoform-specific) and its antisense RNA 1 (ZFAT-AS1) are two allele-specific monoallelically expressed genes in cattle. Anim Genet 2024. [PMID: 39231103 DOI: 10.1111/age.13473] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2024] [Accepted: 08/08/2024] [Indexed: 09/06/2024]
Abstract
In mammals, imprinted genes are characterised by a monoallelic expression, which is based on parental origin and is essential for both foetal and placental development. The ZFAT gene encodes a transcriptional factor, and its non-coding antisense RNA, ZFAT-AS1, overlaps with the ZFAT locus. Both ZFAT and ZFAT-AS1 are maternally imprinted in human placentas. In bovines, the imprinting status of the ZFAT and ZFAT-AS1 genes has yet to be reported. In this study, we analysed the allelic expression of three transcript variants (X1-X3) of the bovine ZFAT and ZFAT-AS1 genes in somatic tissues and placentas using a single nucleotide polymorphism-based method. The results showed that bovine ZFAT exhibited isoform-specific paternal expression. The ZFAT X2 variant exhibited monoallelic expression in the bovine placentas and biallelic expression in the six bovine somatic tissues (heart, liver, spleen, lung, kidney and brain). However, the ZFAT X1 and X3 variants were biallelically expressed in both bovine tissues and placentas. A 311 bp bovine ZFAT-AS1 complementary DNA (cDNA) sequence was obtained by aligning the human ZFAT-AS1 cDNA sequence with the bovine genome and conducting reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction amplification. Bovine ZFAT-AS1 have monoallelic expression in bovine placentas and somatic tissues. In addition, the DNA methylation of two regions was characterised, including the partial promoter, and exon 1 and intron 1 regions of ZFAT, and there were no differentially methylated regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yinjiao Zhang
- College of Life Science, Agricultural University of Hebei, Baoding, Hebei, China
| | - Yunchang Zheng
- College of Life Science, Agricultural University of Hebei, Baoding, Hebei, China
| | - Wenli Yu
- Hebei Cattle Industry Technology Research Institute, Shijiazhuang, China
| | - Lidan Yang
- College of Life Science, Agricultural University of Hebei, Baoding, Hebei, China
| | - Cui Zhang
- College of Life Science, Agricultural University of Hebei, Baoding, Hebei, China
| | - Shujing Li
- Hebei Provincial Dairy Cow Breeding Engineering Technology Research Center, Shijiazhuang, China
| | - Shijie Li
- College of Life Science, Agricultural University of Hebei, Baoding, Hebei, China
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Schuff M, Strong AD, Welborn LK, Ziermann-Canabarro JM. Imprinting as Basis for Complex Evolutionary Novelties in Eutherians. BIOLOGY 2024; 13:682. [PMID: 39336109 PMCID: PMC11428813 DOI: 10.3390/biology13090682] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2024] [Revised: 08/24/2024] [Accepted: 08/28/2024] [Indexed: 09/30/2024]
Abstract
The epigenetic phenomenon of genomic imprinting is puzzling. While epigenetic modifications in general are widely known in most species, genomic imprinting in the animal kingdom is restricted to autosomes of therian mammals, mainly eutherians, and to a lesser extent in marsupials. Imprinting causes monoallelic gene expression. It represents functional haploidy of certain alleles while bearing the evolutionary cost of diploidization, which is the need of a complex cellular architecture and the danger of producing aneuploid cells by mitotic and meiotic errors. The parent-of-origin gene expression has stressed many theories. Most prominent theories, such as the kinship (parental conflict) hypothesis for maternally versus paternally derived alleles, explain only partial aspects of imprinting. The implementation of single-cell transcriptome analyses and epigenetic research allowed detailed study of monoallelic expression in a spatial and temporal manner and demonstrated a broader but much more complex and differentiated picture of imprinting. In this review, we summarize all these aspects but argue that imprinting is a functional haploidy that not only allows a better gene dosage control of critical genes but also increased cellular diversity and plasticity. Furthermore, we propose that only the occurrence of allele-specific gene regulation mechanisms allows the appearance of evolutionary novelties such as the placenta and the evolutionary expansion of the eutherian brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maximillian Schuff
- Next Fertility St. Gallen, Kürsteinerstrasse 2, 9015 St. Gallen, Switzerland
| | - Amanda D Strong
- Department of Anatomy, Howard University College of Medicine, 520 W St. NW, Washington, DC 20059, USA
| | - Lyvia K Welborn
- Department of Anatomy, Howard University College of Medicine, 520 W St. NW, Washington, DC 20059, USA
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Guo X, Yang J. Advances in DNA methylation of imprinted genes and folic acid regulation of growth and development. Epigenomics 2024; 16:1117-1127. [PMID: 39140401 PMCID: PMC11418287 DOI: 10.1080/17501911.2024.2384833] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2024] [Accepted: 07/22/2024] [Indexed: 08/15/2024] Open
Abstract
DNA methylation is closely related to folate levels and acts as a mechanism linking developmental disorders to chronic diseases. Folic acid supplementation can impact DNA methylation levels of imprinted genes crucial for neonatal development. Imprinted genes are vital for regulating embryonic and postnatal fetal growth. This review summarizes imprinted genes, DNA methylation, folic acid's influence on growth and development and their correlation. It aims to provide a comprehensive overview of research advancements on imprinted genes, DNA methylation and folic acid regulation concerning growth and development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaojing Guo
- Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health & Management, Guangxi Traditional Chinese Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi, China
| | - Junwei Yang
- Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Traditional Chinese Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi, China
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Mackay DJG, Gazdagh G, Monk D, Brioude F, Giabicani E, Krzyzewska IM, Kalish JM, Maas SM, Kagami M, Beygo J, Kahre T, Tenorio-Castano J, Ambrozaitytė L, Burnytė B, Cerrato F, Davies JH, Ferrero GB, Fjodorova O, Manero-Azua A, Pereda A, Russo S, Tannorella P, Temple KI, Õunap K, Riccio A, de Nanclares GP, Maher ER, Lapunzina P, Netchine I, Eggermann T, Bliek J, Tümer Z. Multi-locus imprinting disturbance (MLID): interim joint statement for clinical and molecular diagnosis. Clin Epigenetics 2024; 16:99. [PMID: 39090763 PMCID: PMC11295890 DOI: 10.1186/s13148-024-01713-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2024] [Accepted: 07/24/2024] [Indexed: 08/04/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Imprinting disorders are rare diseases resulting from altered expression of imprinted genes, which exhibit parent-of-origin-specific expression patterns regulated through differential DNA methylation. A subgroup of patients with imprinting disorders have DNA methylation changes at multiple imprinted loci, a condition referred to as multi-locus imprinting disturbance (MLID). MLID is recognised in most but not all imprinting disorders and is also found in individuals with atypical clinical features; the presence of MLID often alters the management or prognosis of the affected person. Some cases of MLID are caused by trans-acting genetic variants, frequently not in the patients but their mothers, which have counselling implications. There is currently no consensus on the definition of MLID, clinical indications prompting testing, molecular procedures and methods for epigenetic and genetic diagnosis, recommendations for laboratory reporting, considerations for counselling, and implications for prognosis and management. The purpose of this study is thus to cover this unmet need. METHODS A comprehensive literature search was conducted resulting in identification of more than 100 articles which formed the basis of discussions by two working groups focusing on clinical diagnosis (n = 12 members) and molecular testing (n = 19 members). Following eight months of preparations and regular online discussions, the experts from 11 countries compiled the preliminary documentation and determined the questions to be addressed during a face-to-face meeting which was held with the attendance of the experts together with four representatives of patient advocacy organisations. RESULTS In light of available evidence and expert consensus, we formulated 16 propositions and 8 recommendations as interim guidance for the clinical and molecular diagnosis of MLID. CONCLUSIONS MLID is a molecular designation, and for patients with MLID and atypical phenotypes, we propose the alternative term multi-locus imprinting syndrome. Due to the intrinsic variability of MLID, the guidelines underscore the importance of involving experts from various fields to ensure a confident approach to diagnosis, counselling, and care. The authors advocate for global, collaborative efforts in both basic and translational research to tackle numerous crucial questions that currently lack answers, and suggest reconvening within the next 3-5 years to evaluate the research advancements and update this guidance as needed.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Gabriella Gazdagh
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
- Wessex Clinical Genetics Service, Princess Anne Hospital, University Hospital Southampton NHS Trust, Southampton, UK
| | - David Monk
- Biomedical Research Centre, School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, UK
| | - Frederic Brioude
- Centre de Recherche Saint Antoine, Endocrinologie Moléculaire et Pathologies d'empreinte, INSERMSorbonne Université, Hôpital Armand TrousseauAPHP, 75012, Paris, France
| | - Eloise Giabicani
- Centre de Recherche Saint Antoine, Endocrinologie Moléculaire et Pathologies d'empreinte, INSERMSorbonne Université, Hôpital Armand TrousseauAPHP, 75012, Paris, France
| | - Izabela M Krzyzewska
- Department of Human Genetics, Amsterdam Reproduction and Development Research Institute, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Jennifer M Kalish
- Division of Human Genetics and Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
- Departments of Pediatrics and Genetics, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA
| | - Saskia M Maas
- Department of Human Genetics, Amsterdam Reproduction and Development Research Institute, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Masayo Kagami
- Department of Molecular Endocrinology, National Research Institute for Child Health and Development, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Jasmin Beygo
- Institut Für Humangenetik, Universitätsklinikum Essen, Universität Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Tiina Kahre
- Department of Laboratory Genetics, Genetics and Personalized Medicine Clinic, Tartu University Hospital, Tartu, Estonia
- Department of Clinical Genetics, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Jair Tenorio-Castano
- CIBERER, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Raras, Madrid, Spain
- Institute of Medical and Molecular Genetics, INGEMM-Idipaz, Madrid, Spain
| | - Laima Ambrozaitytė
- Department of Human and Medical Genetics, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania
| | - Birutė Burnytė
- Department of Human and Medical Genetics, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania
| | - Flavia Cerrato
- Department of Environmental Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (DiSTABiF), Università Degli Studi Della Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli", Caserta, Italy
| | - Justin H Davies
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
- Regional Centre for Paediatric Endocrinology, Faculty of Medicine, Southampton Children's Hospital, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
| | - Giovanni Battista Ferrero
- Department of Clinical and Biological Science, School of Medicine, Centre for Hemoglobinopathies, AOU San Luigi Gonzaga, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Olga Fjodorova
- Department of Laboratory Genetics, Genetics and Personalized Medicine Clinic, Tartu University Hospital, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Africa Manero-Azua
- Rare Diseases Research Group, Molecular (Epi)Genetics Laboratory, Bioaraba Health Research Institute, Araba University Hospital-Txagorritxu, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Araba, Spain
| | - Arrate Pereda
- Rare Diseases Research Group, Molecular (Epi)Genetics Laboratory, Bioaraba Health Research Institute, Araba University Hospital-Txagorritxu, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Araba, Spain
| | - Silvia Russo
- IRCCS Research Laboratory of Medical Cytogenetics and Molecular Genetics, Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Milan, Italy
| | - Pierpaola Tannorella
- IRCCS Research Laboratory of Medical Cytogenetics and Molecular Genetics, Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Milan, Italy
| | - Karen I Temple
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
- Wessex Clinical Genetics Service, Princess Anne Hospital, University Hospital Southampton NHS Trust, Southampton, UK
| | - Katrin Õunap
- Department of Clinical Genetics, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
- Department of Clinical Genetics, Genetics and Personalized Medicine Clinic, Tartu University Hospital, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Andrea Riccio
- Department of Environmental Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies (DiSTABiF), Università Degli Studi Della Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli", Caserta, Italy
- Institute of Genetics and Biophysics (IGB),"Adriano Buzzati-Traverso", Consiglio Nazionale Delle Ricerche (CNR), Naples, Italy
| | - Guiomar Perez de Nanclares
- Rare Diseases Research Group, Molecular (Epi)Genetics Laboratory, Bioaraba Health Research Institute, Araba University Hospital-Txagorritxu, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Araba, Spain
| | - Eamonn R Maher
- Aston Medical School, Aston University, Birmingham, UK
- Department of Medical Genetics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Pablo Lapunzina
- CIBERER, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Raras, Madrid, Spain
- Institute of Medical and Molecular Genetics, INGEMM-Idipaz, Madrid, Spain
| | - Irène Netchine
- Centre de Recherche Saint Antoine, Endocrinologie Moléculaire et Pathologies d'empreinte, INSERMSorbonne Université, Hôpital Armand TrousseauAPHP, 75012, Paris, France
| | - Thomas Eggermann
- Institute for Human Genetics and Genome Medicine. Faculty of Medicine, RWTH University Aachen, Aachen, Germany
| | - Jet Bliek
- Department of Human Genetics, Amsterdam Reproduction and Development Research Institute, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Zeynep Tümer
- Department of Clinical Genetics, Kennedy Center, Copenhagen University Hospital - Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
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Huo H, Zhang C, Wang K, Wang S, Chen W, Zhang Y, Yu W, Li S, Li S. A novel imprinted locus on bovine chromosome 18 homologous with human chromosome 16q24.1. Mol Genet Genomics 2024; 299:40. [PMID: 38546894 DOI: 10.1007/s00438-024-02123-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2023] [Accepted: 02/02/2024] [Indexed: 04/02/2024]
Abstract
Genomic imprinting is an epigenetic regulation mechanism in mammals resulting in the parentally dependent monoallelic expression of genes. Imprinting disorders in humans are associated with several congenital syndromes and cancers and remain the focus of many medical studies. Cattle is a better model organism for investigating human embryo development than mice. Imprinted genes usually cluster on chromosomes and are regulated by different methylation regions (DMRs) located in imprinting control regions that control gene expression in cis. There is an imprinted locus on human chromosome 16q24.1 associated with congenital lethal developmental lung disease in newborns. However, genomic imprinting on bovine chromosome 18, which is homologous with human chromosome 16 has not been systematically studied. The aim of this study was to analyze the allelic expressions of eight genes (CDH13, ATP2C2, TLDC1, COTL1, CRISPLD2, ZDHHC7, KIAA0513, and GSE1) on bovine chromosome 18 and to search the DMRs associated gene allelic expression. Three transcript variants of the ZDHHC7 gene (X1, X2, and X5) showed maternal imprinting in bovine placentas. In addition, the monoallelic expression of X2 and X5 was tissue-specific. Five transcripts of the KIAA0513 gene showed tissue- and isoform-specific monoallelic expression. The CDH13, ATP2C2, and TLDC1 genes exhibited tissue-specific imprinting, however, COTL1, CRISLPLD2, and GSE1 escaped imprinting. Four DMRs, established after fertilization, were found in this region. Two DMRs were located between the ZDHHC7 and KIAA0513 genes, and two were in exon 1 of the CDH13 and ATP2C2 genes, respectively. The results from this study support future studies on the molecular mechanism to regulate the imprinting of candidate genes on bovine chromosome 18.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haonan Huo
- College of Life Science, Agricultural University of Hebei, Baoding, Hebei, China
| | - Cui Zhang
- College of Life Science, Agricultural University of Hebei, Baoding, Hebei, China
| | - Kun Wang
- Institute of Cereal and Oil Crops, Hebei Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, Shijiazhuang, China
- Key Laboratory of Crop Cultivation Physiology and Green Production in Hebei Province, Shijiazhuang, China
| | - Siwei Wang
- Institute of Cereal and Oil Crops, Hebei Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, Shijiazhuang, China
- Key Laboratory of Crop Cultivation Physiology and Green Production in Hebei Province, Shijiazhuang, China
| | - Weina Chen
- College of Medical Science, Hebei University, Baoding, Hebei, China
| | - Yinjiao Zhang
- College of Life Science, Agricultural University of Hebei, Baoding, Hebei, China
| | - Wenli Yu
- Shijiazhuang Tianquan Elite Dairy Ltd., Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China
| | - Shujing Li
- Shijiazhuang Tianquan Elite Dairy Ltd., Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China.
| | - Shijie Li
- College of Life Science, Agricultural University of Hebei, Baoding, Hebei, China.
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Fang S, Chang KW, Lefebvre L. Roles of endogenous retroviral elements in the establishment and maintenance of imprinted gene expression. Front Cell Dev Biol 2024; 12:1369751. [PMID: 38505259 PMCID: PMC10948482 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2024.1369751] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2024] [Accepted: 02/26/2024] [Indexed: 03/21/2024] Open
Abstract
DNA methylation (DNAme) has long been recognized as a host defense mechanism, both in the restriction modification systems of prokaryotes as well as in the transcriptional silencing of repetitive elements in mammals. When DNAme was shown to be implicated as a key epigenetic mechanism in the regulation of imprinted genes in mammals, a parallel with host defense mechanisms was drawn, suggesting perhaps a common evolutionary origin. Here we review recent work related to this hypothesis on two different aspects of the developmental imprinting cycle in mammals that has revealed unexpected roles for long terminal repeat (LTR) retroelements in imprinting, both canonical and noncanonical. These two different forms of genomic imprinting depend on different epigenetic marks inherited from the mature gametes, DNAme and histone H3 lysine 27 trimethylation (H3K27me3), respectively. DNAme establishment in the maternal germline is guided by transcription during oocyte growth. Specific families of LTRs, evading silencing mechanisms, have been implicated in this process for specific imprinted genes. In noncanonical imprinting, maternally inherited histone marks play transient roles in transcriptional silencing during preimplantation development. These marks are ultimately translated into DNAme, notably over LTR elements, for the maintenance of silencing of the maternal alleles in the extraembryonic trophoblast lineage. Therefore, LTR retroelements play important roles in both establishment and maintenance of different epigenetic pathways leading to imprinted expression during development. Because such elements are mobile and highly polymorphic among different species, they can be coopted for the evolution of new species-specific imprinted genes.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Louis Lefebvre
- Department of Medical Genetics, Life Sciences Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
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Yuan S, Gao L, Tao W, Zhan J, Lu G, Zhang J, Zhang C, Yi L, Liu Z, Hou Z, Dai M, Zhao H, Chen ZJ, Liu J, Wu K. Allelic reprogramming of chromatin states in human early embryos. Natl Sci Rev 2024; 11:nwad328. [PMID: 38449877 PMCID: PMC10917445 DOI: 10.1093/nsr/nwad328] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2023] [Revised: 10/04/2023] [Accepted: 12/16/2023] [Indexed: 03/08/2024] Open
Abstract
The reprogramming of parental epigenomes in human early embryos remains elusive. To what extent the characteristics of parental epigenomes are conserved between humans and mice is currently unknown. Here, we mapped parental haploid epigenomes using human parthenogenetic and androgenetic embryos. Human embryos have a larger portion of genome with parentally specific epigenetic states than mouse embryos. The allelic patterns of epigenetic states for orthologous regions are not conserved between humans and mice. Nevertheless, it is conserved that maternal DNA methylation and paternal H3K27me3 are associated with the repression of two alleles in humans and mice. In addition, for DNA-methylation-dependent imprinting, we report 19 novel imprinted genes and their associated germline differentially methylated regions. Unlike in mice, H3K27me3-dependent imprinting is not observed in human early embryos. Collectively, allele-specific epigenomic reprogramming is different in humans and mice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shenli Yuan
- Center for Reproductive Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China
- CAS Key Laboratory of Genome Sciences and Information, Collaborative Innovation Center of Genetics and Development, Beijing Institute of Genomics, and China National Center for Bioinformation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
- CUHK-SDU Joint Laboratory on Reproductive Genetics, School of Biomedical Sciences, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Lei Gao
- CAS Key Laboratory of Genome Sciences and Information, Collaborative Innovation Center of Genetics and Development, Beijing Institute of Genomics, and China National Center for Bioinformation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Wenrong Tao
- Center for Reproductive Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China
- Key Laboratory of Reproductive Endocrinology of the Ministry of Education, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China
| | - Jianhong Zhan
- CAS Key Laboratory of Genome Sciences and Information, Collaborative Innovation Center of Genetics and Development, Beijing Institute of Genomics, and China National Center for Bioinformation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Gang Lu
- CUHK-SDU Joint Laboratory on Reproductive Genetics, School of Biomedical Sciences, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
| | - Jingye Zhang
- Center for Reproductive Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China
- Key Laboratory of Reproductive Endocrinology of the Ministry of Education, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China
| | - Chuanxin Zhang
- Center for Reproductive Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China
- Key Laboratory of Reproductive Endocrinology of the Ministry of Education, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China
| | - Lizhi Yi
- CAS Key Laboratory of Genome Sciences and Information, Collaborative Innovation Center of Genetics and Development, Beijing Institute of Genomics, and China National Center for Bioinformation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Zhenbo Liu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Genome Sciences and Information, Collaborative Innovation Center of Genetics and Development, Beijing Institute of Genomics, and China National Center for Bioinformation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Zhenzhen Hou
- Center for Reproductive Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China
- Key Laboratory of Reproductive Endocrinology of the Ministry of Education, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China
| | - Min Dai
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Han Zhao
- Center for Reproductive Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China
- Key Laboratory of Reproductive Endocrinology of the Ministry of Education, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China
| | - Zi-Jiang Chen
- Center for Reproductive Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China
- Key Laboratory of Reproductive Endocrinology of the Ministry of Education, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China
- Center for Reproductive Medicine, Ren Ji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200135, China
| | - Jiang Liu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Genome Sciences and Information, Collaborative Innovation Center of Genetics and Development, Beijing Institute of Genomics, and China National Center for Bioinformation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
- CAS Center for Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650223, China
| | - Keliang Wu
- Center for Reproductive Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China
- Key Laboratory of Reproductive Endocrinology of the Ministry of Education, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China
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10
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Wilkinson AL, Zorzan I, Rugg-Gunn PJ. Epigenetic regulation of early human embryo development. Cell Stem Cell 2023; 30:1569-1584. [PMID: 37858333 DOI: 10.1016/j.stem.2023.09.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2023] [Revised: 09/18/2023] [Accepted: 09/25/2023] [Indexed: 10/21/2023]
Abstract
Studies of mammalian development have advanced our understanding of the genetic, epigenetic, and cellular processes that orchestrate embryogenesis and have uncovered new insights into the unique aspects of human embryogenesis. Recent studies have now produced the first epigenetic maps of early human embryogenesis, stimulating new ideas about epigenetic reprogramming, cell fate control, and the potential mechanisms underpinning developmental plasticity in human embryos. In this review, we discuss these new insights into the epigenetic regulation of early human development and the importance of these processes for safeguarding development. We also highlight unanswered questions and key challenges that remain to be addressed.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Irene Zorzan
- Epigenetics Programme, Babraham Institute, Cambridge, UK
| | - Peter J Rugg-Gunn
- Epigenetics Programme, Babraham Institute, Cambridge, UK; Centre for Trophoblast Research, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK; Wellcome-MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, Cambridge, UK.
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11
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Sainty R, Silver MJ, Prentice AM, Monk D. The influence of early environment and micronutrient availability on developmental epigenetic programming: lessons from the placenta. Front Cell Dev Biol 2023; 11:1212199. [PMID: 37484911 PMCID: PMC10358779 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2023.1212199] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2023] [Accepted: 06/27/2023] [Indexed: 07/25/2023] Open
Abstract
DNA methylation is the most commonly studied epigenetic mark in humans, as it is well recognised as a stable, heritable mark that can affect genome function and influence gene expression. Somatic DNA methylation patterns that can persist throughout life are established shortly after fertilisation when the majority of epigenetic marks, including DNA methylation, are erased from the pre-implantation embryo. Therefore, the period around conception is potentially critical for influencing DNA methylation, including methylation at imprinted alleles and metastable epialleles (MEs), loci where methylation varies between individuals but is correlated across tissues. Exposures before and during conception can affect pregnancy outcomes and health throughout life. Retrospective studies of the survivors of famines, such as those exposed to the Dutch Hunger Winter of 1944-45, have linked exposures around conception to later disease outcomes, some of which correlate with DNA methylation changes at certain genes. Animal models have shown more directly that DNA methylation can be affected by dietary supplements that act as cofactors in one-carbon metabolism, and in humans, methylation at birth has been associated with peri-conceptional micronutrient supplementation. However, directly showing a role of micronutrients in shaping the epigenome has proven difficult. Recently, the placenta, a tissue with a unique hypomethylated methylome, has been shown to possess great inter-individual variability, which we highlight as a promising target tissue for studying MEs and mixed environmental exposures. The placenta has a critical role shaping the health of the fetus. Placenta-associated pregnancy complications, such as preeclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction, are all associated with aberrant patterns of DNA methylation and expression which are only now being linked to disease risk later in life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca Sainty
- Biomedical Research Centre, School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom
| | - Matt J. Silver
- Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
| | - Andrew M. Prentice
- Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Banjul, Gambia
| | - David Monk
- Biomedical Research Centre, School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom
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12
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El Fouikar S, Duranthon V, Helies V, Jammes H, Couturier-Tarrade A, Gayrard V, Van Acker N, Frenois FX, Archilla C, Rousseau-Ralliard D, Gatimel N, Léandri R. Multigenerational Effects of a Complex Human-Relevant Exposure during Folliculogenesis and Preimplantation Embryo Development: The FEDEXPO Study. TOXICS 2023; 11:toxics11050425. [PMID: 37235240 DOI: 10.3390/toxics11050425] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2023] [Revised: 04/25/2023] [Accepted: 04/26/2023] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
Animal toxicological studies often fail to mimic the complexity of the human exposome, associating low doses, combined molecules and long-term exposure. Since the reproductive potential of a woman begins in the fetal ovary, the literature regarding the disruption of its reproductive health by environmental toxicants remains limited. Studies draw attention to follicle development, a major determinant for the quality of the oocyte, and the preimplantation embryo, as both of them are targets for epigenetic reprogramming. The "Folliculogenesis and Embryo Development EXPOsure to a mixture of toxicants: evaluation in the rabbit model" (FEDEXPO) project emerged from consideration of these limitations and aims to evaluate in the rabbit model the impacts of an exposure to a mixture of known and suspected endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) during two specific windows, including folliculogenesis and preimplantation embryo development. The mixture combines eight environmental toxicants, namely perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE), hexachlorobenzene (HCB), β-hexachlorocyclohexane (β-HCH), 2,2'4,4'-tetrabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-47), di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) and bisphenol S (BPS), at relevant exposure levels for reproductive-aged women based on biomonitoring data. The project will be organized in order to assess the consequences of this exposure on the ovarian function of the directly exposed F0 females and monitor the development and health of the F1 offspring from the preimplantation stage. Emphasis will be made on the reproductive health of the offspring. Lastly, this multigenerational study will also tackle potential mechanisms for the inheritance of health disruption via the oocyte or the preimplantation embryo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara El Fouikar
- ToxAlim (Research Center in Food Toxicology), Université de Toulouse, INRAE, ENVT, INP-Purpan, UPS, 31062 Toulouse, France
| | | | - Virginie Helies
- GenPhySE (Génétique Physiologie et Système d'Elevage), Université de Toulouse, INRAE, ENVT, INPT, 31326 Castanet-Tolosan, France
| | - Hélène Jammes
- BREED INRAE, UVSQ, Université Paris-Saclay, 78350 Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | | | - Véronique Gayrard
- ToxAlim (Research Center in Food Toxicology), Université de Toulouse, INRAE, ENVT, INP-Purpan, UPS, 31062 Toulouse, France
| | - Nathalie Van Acker
- Plateforme Imag'IN, Service d'Anatomie Pathologie, Institut Universitaire du Cancer-Oncopole de Toulouse, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Toulouse, 31059 Toulouse, France
| | - François-Xavier Frenois
- Plateforme Imag'IN, Service d'Anatomie Pathologie, Institut Universitaire du Cancer-Oncopole de Toulouse, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Toulouse, 31059 Toulouse, France
| | | | | | - Nicolas Gatimel
- DEFE (Développement Embryonnaire, Fertilité et Environnement), UMR 1203 Inserm, Universités Toulouse et Montpellier, Toulouse Teaching Hospital Group, 31059 Toulouse, France
- Médecine de la Reproduction, Hôpital Paule de Viguier, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Toulouse, 31059 Toulouse, France
| | - Roger Léandri
- ToxAlim (Research Center in Food Toxicology), Université de Toulouse, INRAE, ENVT, INP-Purpan, UPS, 31062 Toulouse, France
- Médecine de la Reproduction, Hôpital Paule de Viguier, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Toulouse, 31059 Toulouse, France
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13
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Hernandez Mora JR, Buhigas C, Clark S, Del Gallego Bonilla R, Daskeviciute D, Monteagudo-Sánchez A, Poo-Llanillo ME, Medrano JV, Simón C, Meseguer M, Kelsey G, Monk D. Single-cell multi-omic analysis profiles defective genome activation and epigenetic reprogramming associated with human pre-implantation embryo arrest. Cell Rep 2023; 42:112100. [PMID: 36763500 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.112100] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2022] [Revised: 10/14/2022] [Accepted: 01/26/2023] [Indexed: 02/11/2023] Open
Abstract
During pre-implantation stages of mammalian development, maternally stored material promotes both the erasure of the sperm and oocyte epigenetic profiles and is responsible for concomitant genome activation. Here, we have utilized single-cell methylome and transcriptome sequencing (scM&T-seq) to quantify both mRNA expression and DNA methylation in oocytes and a developmental series of human embryos at single-cell resolution. We fully characterize embryonic genome activation and maternal transcript degradation and map key epigenetic reprogramming events in developmentally high-quality embryos. By comparing these signatures with early embryos that have undergone spontaneous cleavage-stage arrest, as determined by time-lapse imaging, we identify embryos that fail to appropriately activate their genomes or undergo epigenetic reprogramming. Our results indicate that a failure to successfully accomplish these essential milestones impedes the developmental potential of pre-implantation embryos and is likely to have important implications, similar to aneuploidy, for the success of assisted reproductive cycles.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Claudia Buhigas
- Biomedical Research Centre, School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich NR4 7JT, UK
| | - Stephen Clark
- The Babraham Institute, Babraham, Cambridge CB22 3AT, UK
| | | | - Dagne Daskeviciute
- Biomedical Research Centre, School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich NR4 7JT, UK
| | | | | | - Jose Vicente Medrano
- IVI-RMA Global and Health Research Institute la Fe, 46026 Valencia, Spain; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Valencia University and INCLIVA, 46010 Valencia, Spain
| | - Carlos Simón
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Valencia University and INCLIVA, 46010 Valencia, Spain; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, BIDMC, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Marcos Meseguer
- IVI-RMA Global and Health Research Institute la Fe, 46026 Valencia, Spain
| | - Gavin Kelsey
- The Babraham Institute, Babraham, Cambridge CB22 3AT, UK; Centre for Trophoblast Research, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EL, UK; Wellcome-MRC Institute of Metabolic Science-Metabolic Research Laboratories, Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK
| | - David Monk
- Bellvitge Institute for Biomedical Research, 08908 Barcelona, Spain; Biomedical Research Centre, School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich NR4 7JT, UK.
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14
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Paternal UPD14 with sSMC derived from chromosome 14 in Kagami-Ogata syndrome. CHROMOSOME RESEARCH : AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON THE MOLECULAR, SUPRAMOLECULAR AND EVOLUTIONARY ASPECTS OF CHROMOSOME BIOLOGY 2023; 31:1. [PMID: 36656404 DOI: 10.1007/s10577-023-09712-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2022] [Revised: 12/27/2022] [Accepted: 01/02/2023] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
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15
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Genome-wide assessment of DNA methylation alterations induced by superovulation, sexual immaturity and in vitro follicle growth in mouse blastocysts. Clin Epigenetics 2023; 15:9. [PMID: 36647174 PMCID: PMC9843966 DOI: 10.1186/s13148-023-01421-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2022] [Accepted: 01/03/2023] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND In their attempt to fulfill the wish of having children, women who suffer from fertility issues often undergo assisted reproductive technologies such as ovarian stimulation, which has been associated with adverse health outcomes and imprinting disorders in children. However, given the crucial role of exogenous hormone stimulation in improving human infertility treatments, a more comprehensive analysis of the potential impacts on DNA methylation in embryos following ovarian stimulation is needed. Here, we provide genome-wide DNA methylation profiles of blastocysts generated after superovulation of prepubertal or adult mice, compared with blastocysts derived from non-stimulated adult mice. Additionally, we assessed the impact of the in vitro growth and maturation of oocytes on methylation in blastocysts. RESULTS Neither hormone stimulation nor sexual maturity had an impact on the low global methylation levels characteristic of the blastocyst stage or was associated with extensive DNA methylation alterations. However, we found hormone- and age-associated changes at specific positions but dispersed throughout the genome. In particular, we detected anomalous methylation at a limited number of CpG islands. Additionally, superovulation in adult mice was associated with alterations at the Sgce and Zfp777 imprinted genes. On the other hand, in vitro culture of follicles from the early pre-antral stage was associated with globally reduced methylation and increased variability at imprinted loci in blastocysts. CONCLUSIONS Our results indicate a minimal effect of ovarian stimulation of adult and prepubertal mice on the DNA methylation landscape attained at the blastocyst stage, but potentially greater impacts of in vitro growth and maturation of oocytes. These findings have potential significance for the improvement of assisted reproductive techniques, in particular for those related to treatments in prepubertal females, which could be crucial for improving human fertility preservation strategies.
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16
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Wang LQ, Fernandez-Boyano I, Robinson WP. Genetic variation in placental insufficiency: What have we learned over time? Front Cell Dev Biol 2022; 10:1038358. [PMID: 36313546 PMCID: PMC9613937 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2022.1038358] [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: 09/06/2022] [Accepted: 10/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Genetic variation shapes placental development and function, which has long been known to impact fetal growth and pregnancy outcomes such as miscarriage or maternal pre-eclampsia. Early epidemiology studies provided evidence of a strong heritable component to these conditions with both maternal and fetal-placental genetic factors contributing. Subsequently, cytogenetic studies of the placenta and the advent of prenatal diagnosis to detect chromosomal abnormalities provided direct evidence of the importance of spontaneously arising genetic variation in the placenta, such as trisomy and uniparental disomy, drawing inferences that remain relevant to this day. Candidate gene approaches highlighted the role of genetic variation in genes influencing immune interactions at the maternal-fetal interface and angiogenic factors. More recently, the emergence of molecular techniques and in particular high-throughput technologies such as Single-Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) arrays, has facilitated the discovery of copy number variation and study of SNP associations with conditions related to placental insufficiency. This review integrates past and more recent knowledge to provide important insights into the role of placental function on fetal and perinatal health, as well as into the mechanisms leading to genetic variation during development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Li Qing Wang
- BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, BC, Canada
- Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Icíar Fernandez-Boyano
- BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, BC, Canada
- Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Wendy P. Robinson
- BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, BC, Canada
- Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
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17
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Marttila S, Tamminen H, Rajić S, Mishra PP, Lehtimäki T, Raitakari O, Kähönen M, Kananen L, Jylhävä J, Hägg S, Delerue T, Peters A, Waldenberger M, Kleber ME, März W, Luoto R, Raitanen J, Sillanpää E, Laakkonen EK, Heikkinen A, Ollikainen M, Raitoharju E. Methylation status of VTRNA2-1/ nc886 is stable across populations, monozygotic twin pairs and in majority of tissues. Epigenomics 2022; 14:1105-1124. [PMID: 36200237 DOI: 10.2217/epi-2022-0228] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Aims & methods: The aim of this study was to characterize the methylation level of a polymorphically imprinted gene, VTRNA2-1/nc886, in human populations and somatic tissues.48 datasets, consisting of more than 30 tissues and >30,000 individuals, were used. Results: nc886 methylation status is associated with twin status and ethnic background, but the variation between populations is limited. Monozygotic twin pairs present concordant methylation, whereas ∼30% of dizygotic twin pairs present discordant methylation in the nc886 locus. The methylation levels of nc886 are uniform across somatic tissues, except in cerebellum and skeletal muscle. Conclusion: The nc886 imprint may be established in the oocyte, and, after implantation, the methylation status is stable, excluding a few specific tissues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saara Marttila
- Molecular Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine & Health Technology, Tampere University, Arvo Ylpön katu 34, Tampere, 33520, Finland.,Gerontology Research Center, Tampere University, Tampere, 33014, Finland
| | - Hely Tamminen
- Molecular Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine & Health Technology, Tampere University, Arvo Ylpön katu 34, Tampere, 33520, Finland
| | - Sonja Rajić
- Molecular Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine & Health Technology, Tampere University, Arvo Ylpön katu 34, Tampere, 33520, Finland
| | - Pashupati P Mishra
- Department of Clinical Chemistry, Faculty of Medicine & Health Technology, Tampere University, Arvo Ylpön katu 34, Tampere, 33520, Finland.,Finnish Cardiovascular Research Center Tampere, Faculty of Medicine & Health Technology, Tampere University, Arvo Ylpön katu 34, Tampere, 33520, Finland.,Fimlab Laboratories, Arvo Ylpön katu 4, Tampere, 33520, Finland
| | - Terho Lehtimäki
- Department of Clinical Chemistry, Faculty of Medicine & Health Technology, Tampere University, Arvo Ylpön katu 34, Tampere, 33520, Finland.,Finnish Cardiovascular Research Center Tampere, Faculty of Medicine & Health Technology, Tampere University, Arvo Ylpön katu 34, Tampere, 33520, Finland.,Fimlab Laboratories, Arvo Ylpön katu 4, Tampere, 33520, Finland
| | - Olli Raitakari
- Centre for Population Health Research, University of Turku & Turku University Hospital, Turku, 20014, Finland.,Research Centre of Applied & Preventive Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, 20014, Finland.,Department of Clinical Physiology & Nuclear Medicine, Turku University Hospital, Turku, 20014, Finland
| | - Mika Kähönen
- Finnish Cardiovascular Research Center Tampere, Faculty of Medicine & Health Technology, Tampere University, Arvo Ylpön katu 34, Tampere, 33520, Finland.,Department of Clinical Physiology, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, 33521, Finland
| | - Laura Kananen
- Faculty of Medicine & Health Technology, & Gerontology Research Center, Tampere University, Arvo Ylpön katu 34, Tampere, 33520,Finland.,Department of Medical Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, 171 77, Sweden.,Faculty of Social Sciences (Health Sciences), & Gerontology Research Center, Tampere University, Arvo Ylpön katu 34, Tampere, 33520, Finland
| | - Juulia Jylhävä
- Department of Medical Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, 171 77, Sweden.,Faculty of Social Sciences (Health Sciences), & Gerontology Research Center, Tampere University, Arvo Ylpön katu 34, Tampere, 33520, Finland
| | - Sara Hägg
- Department of Medical Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, 171 77, Sweden
| | - Thomas Delerue
- Research Unit Molecular Epidemiology, Institute of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Bavaria, D-85764,, Germany
| | - Annette Peters
- Institute of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Bavaria, D-85764, Germany.,German Center for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK), Partner Site Munich Heart Alliance, Munich, Germany
| | - Melanie Waldenberger
- Research Unit Molecular Epidemiology, Institute of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Bavaria, D-85764,, Germany.,German Center for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK), Partner Site Munich Heart Alliance, Munich, Germany
| | - Marcus E Kleber
- Vth Department of Medicine, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, 68167, Germany.,SYNLAB MVZ Humangenetik Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Winfried März
- Vth Department of Medicine, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, 68167, Germany.,Competence Cluster for Nutrition & Cardiovascular Health (nutriCARD) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Jena, 07743, Germany.,SYNLAB Academy, SYNLAB Holding Deutschland GmbH, Augsburg, 86156, Germany.,Clinical Institute of Medical & Chemical Laboratory Diagnostics, Medical University of Graz, Graz, 8010, Austria
| | - Riitta Luoto
- The Social Insurance Institute of Finland (Kela), Helsinki, 00250, Finland.,The UKK Institute for Health Promotion Research, Kaupinpuistonkatu 1, Tampere, 33500, Finland
| | - Jani Raitanen
- The UKK Institute for Health Promotion Research, Kaupinpuistonkatu 1, Tampere, 33500, Finland.,Faculty of Social Sciences (Health Sciences), Tampere University, Arvo Ylpön katu 34, Tampere, 33520, Finland
| | - Elina Sillanpää
- Gerontology Research Center & Faculty of Sport & Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, 40014, Finland.,Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland, FIMM, HiLIFE, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, 00014, Finland
| | - Eija K Laakkonen
- Gerontology Research Center & Faculty of Sport & Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, 40014, Finland
| | - Aino Heikkinen
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland, FIMM, HiLIFE, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, 00014, Finland
| | - Miina Ollikainen
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland, FIMM, HiLIFE, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, 00014, Finland
| | - Emma Raitoharju
- Molecular Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine & Health Technology, Tampere University, Arvo Ylpön katu 34, Tampere, 33520, Finland.,Finnish Cardiovascular Research Center Tampere, Faculty of Medicine & Health Technology, Tampere University, Arvo Ylpön katu 34, Tampere, 33520, Finland
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18
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Dong Y, Zhang C, Jin L, Li D, Chen W, Huo H, Li S.
PMM2
and
NARFL
are paternally imprinted genes in bovines. Anim Genet 2022; 53:592-598. [DOI: 10.1111/age.13247] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2022] [Revised: 07/15/2022] [Accepted: 07/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Yanqiu Dong
- College of Life Science Agricultural University of Hebei Baoding Hebei China
| | - Cui Zhang
- College of Life Science Agricultural University of Hebei Baoding Hebei China
| | - Lanjie Jin
- College of Life Science Agricultural University of Hebei Baoding Hebei China
| | - Dongjie Li
- College of Bioscience and Bioengineering Hebei University of Science and Technology Shijiazhuang Hebei China
| | - Weina Chen
- Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine Hebei University Baoding Hebei China
| | - Haonan Huo
- College of Life Science Agricultural University of Hebei Baoding Hebei China
| | - Shijie Li
- College of Life Science Agricultural University of Hebei Baoding Hebei China
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19
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Aoki S, Higashimoto K, Hidaka H, Ohtsuka Y, Aoki S, Mishima H, Yoshiura KI, Nakabayashi K, Hata K, Yatsuki H, Hara S, Ohba T, Katabuchi H, Soejima H. Aberrant hypomethylation at imprinted differentially methylated regions is involved in biparental placental mesenchymal dysplasia. Clin Epigenetics 2022; 14:64. [PMID: 35581658 PMCID: PMC9115938 DOI: 10.1186/s13148-022-01280-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2021] [Accepted: 04/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Placental mesenchymal dysplasia (PMD) is a morphological abnormality resembling partial hydatidiform moles. It is often associated with androgenetic/biparental mosaicism (ABM) and complicated by Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome (BWS), an imprinting disorder. These phenomena suggest an association between PMD and aberrant genomic imprinting, particularly of CDKN1C and IGF2. The existence of another type of PMD containing the biparental genome has been reported. However, the frequency and etiology of biparental PMD are not yet fully understood. RESULTS We examined 44 placental specimens from 26 patients with PMD: 19 of these were macroscopically normal and 25 exhibited macroscopic PMD. Genotyping by DNA microarray or short tandem repeat analysis revealed that approximately 35% of the macroscopic PMD specimens could be classified as biparental, while the remainder were ABM. We performed a DNA methylation analysis using bisulfite pyrosequencing of 15 placenta-specific imprinted differentially methylated regions (DMRs) and 36 ubiquitous imprinted DMRs. As expected, most DMRs in the macroscopic PMD specimens with ABM exhibited the paternal epigenotype. Importantly, the biparental macroscopic PMD specimens exhibited frequent aberrant hypomethylation at seven of the placenta-specific DMRs. Allelic expression analysis using single-nucleotide polymorphisms revealed that five imprinted genes associated with these aberrantly hypomethylated DMRs were biallelically expressed. Frequent aberrant hypomethylation was observed at five ubiquitous DMRs, including GRB10 but not ICR2 or ICR1, which regulate the expression of CDKN1C and IGF2, respectively. Whole-exome sequencing performed on four biparental macroscopic PMD specimens did not reveal any pathological genetic abnormalities. Clinical and molecular analyses of babies born from pregnancies with PMD revealed four cases with BWS, each exhibiting different molecular characteristics, and those between BWS and PMD specimens were not always the same. CONCLUSION These data clarify the prevalence of biparental PMD and ABM-PMD and strongly implicate hypomethylation of DMRs in the pathogenesis of biparental PMD, particularly placenta-specific DMRs and the ubiquitous GRB10, but not ICR2 or ICR1. Aberrant hypomethylation of DMRs was partial, indicating that it occurs after fertilization. PMD is an imprinting disorder, and it may be a missing link between imprinting disorders and placental disorders incompatible with life, such as complete hydatidiform moles and partial hydatidiform moles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saori Aoki
- Division of Molecular Genetics and Epigenetics, Department of Biomolecular Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Saga University, Saga, 849-8501, Japan
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, 860-8556, Japan
| | - Ken Higashimoto
- Division of Molecular Genetics and Epigenetics, Department of Biomolecular Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Saga University, Saga, 849-8501, Japan.
| | - Hidenori Hidaka
- Division of Molecular Genetics and Epigenetics, Department of Biomolecular Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Saga University, Saga, 849-8501, Japan
| | - Yasufumi Ohtsuka
- Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Saga University, Saga, 849-8501, Japan
| | - Shigehisa Aoki
- Department of Pathology and Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Saga University, Saga, 849-8501, Japan
| | - Hiroyuki Mishima
- Department of Human Genetics, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki, 852-8523, Japan
| | - Koh-Ichiro Yoshiura
- Department of Human Genetics, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki, 852-8523, Japan
| | - Kazuhiko Nakabayashi
- Department of Maternal-Fetal Biology, National Research Institute for Child Health and Development, Tokyo, 157-8535, Japan
| | - Kenichiro Hata
- Department of Maternal-Fetal Biology, National Research Institute for Child Health and Development, Tokyo, 157-8535, Japan
| | - Hitomi Yatsuki
- Division of Molecular Genetics and Epigenetics, Department of Biomolecular Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Saga University, Saga, 849-8501, Japan
| | - Satoshi Hara
- Division of Molecular Genetics and Epigenetics, Department of Biomolecular Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Saga University, Saga, 849-8501, Japan
| | - Takashi Ohba
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, 860-8556, Japan
| | - Hidetaka Katabuchi
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, 860-8556, Japan
| | - Hidenobu Soejima
- Division of Molecular Genetics and Epigenetics, Department of Biomolecular Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Saga University, Saga, 849-8501, Japan.
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Kostiniuk D, Tamminen H, Mishra PP, Marttila S, Raitoharju E. Methylation pattern of polymorphically imprinted nc886 is not conserved across mammalia. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0261481. [PMID: 35294436 PMCID: PMC8926257 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0261481] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2021] [Accepted: 03/02/2022] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Background In humans, the nc886 locus is a polymorphically imprinted metastable epiallele. Periconceptional conditions have an effect on the methylation status of nc886, and further, this methylation status is associated with health outcomes in later life, in line with the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) hypothesis. Animal models would offer opportunities to study the associations between periconceptional conditions, nc886 methylation status and metabolic phenotypes further. Thus, we set out to investigate the methylation pattern of the nc886 locus in non-human mammals. Data We obtained DNA methylation data from the data repository GEO for mammals, whose nc886 gene included all three major parts of nc886 and had sequency similarity of over 80% with the human nc886. Our final sample set consisted of DNA methylation data from humans, chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, orangutangs, baboons, macaques, vervets, marmosets and guinea pigs. Results In human data sets the methylation pattern of nc886 locus followed the expected bimodal distribution, indicative of polymorphic imprinting. In great apes, we identified a unimodal DNA methylation pattern with 50% methylation level in all individuals and in all subspecies. In Old World monkeys, the between individual variation was greater and methylation on average was close to 60%. In guinea pigs the region around the nc886 homologue was non-methylated. Results obtained from the sequence comparison of the CTCF binding sites flanking the nc886 gene support the results on the DNA methylation data. Conclusions Our results indicate that unlike in humans, nc886 is not a polymorphically imprinted metastable epiallele in non-human primates or in guinea pigs, thus implying that animal models are not applicable for nc886 research. The obtained data suggests that the nc886 region may be classically imprinted in great apes, and potentially also in Old World monkeys, but not in guinea pigs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daria Kostiniuk
- Molecular Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
| | - Hely Tamminen
- Molecular Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
| | - Pashupati P. Mishra
- Department of Clinical Chemistry, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
- Finnish Cardiovascular Research Centre, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
- Department of Clinical Chemistry, Fimlab Laboratories, Tampere, Finland
| | - Saara Marttila
- Molecular Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
- Gerontology Research Center, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
| | - Emma Raitoharju
- Molecular Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
- Finnish Cardiovascular Research Centre, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
- Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland
- * E-mail:
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21
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Silver MJ, Saffari A, Kessler NJ, Chandak GR, Fall CHD, Issarapu P, Dedaniya A, Betts M, Moore SE, Routledge MN, Herceg Z, Cuenin C, Derakhshan M, James PT, Monk D, Prentice AM. Environmentally sensitive hotspots in the methylome of the early human embryo. eLife 2022; 11:e72031. [PMID: 35188105 PMCID: PMC8912923 DOI: 10.7554/elife.72031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2021] [Accepted: 02/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
In humans, DNA methylation marks inherited from gametes are largely erased following fertilisation, prior to construction of the embryonic methylome. Exploiting a natural experiment of seasonal variation including changes in diet and nutritional status in rural Gambia, we analysed three datasets covering two independent child cohorts and identified 259 CpGs showing consistent associations between season of conception (SoC) and DNA methylation. SoC effects were most apparent in early infancy, with evidence of attenuation by mid-childhood. SoC-associated CpGs were enriched for metastable epialleles, parent-of-origin-specific methylation and germline differentially methylated regions, supporting a periconceptional environmental influence. Many SoC-associated CpGs overlapped enhancers or sites of active transcription in H1 embryonic stem cells and fetal tissues. Half were influenced but not determined by measured genetic variants that were independent of SoC. Environmental 'hotspots' providing a record of environmental influence at periconception constitute a valuable resource for investigating epigenetic mechanisms linking early exposures to lifelong health and disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matt J Silver
- Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical MedicineGambiaUnited Kingdom
| | - Ayden Saffari
- Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical MedicineGambiaUnited Kingdom
| | - Noah J Kessler
- Department of Genetics, University of CambridgeCambridgeUnited Kingdom
| | - Gririraj R Chandak
- Genomic Research on Complex Diseases, CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular BiologyHyderabadIndia
| | - Caroline HD Fall
- MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton, Southampton General HospitalSouthamptonUnited Kingdom
| | - Prachand Issarapu
- Genomic Research on Complex Diseases, CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular BiologyHyderabadIndia
| | - Akshay Dedaniya
- Genomic Research on Complex Diseases, CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular BiologyHyderabadIndia
| | - Modupeh Betts
- Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical MedicineGambiaUnited Kingdom
| | - Sophie E Moore
- Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical MedicineGambiaUnited Kingdom
- Department of Women and Children's Health, King's College LondonLondonUnited Kingdom
| | - Michael N Routledge
- School of Medicine, University of LeedsLeedsUnited Kingdom
- School of Food and Biological Engineering, Jiangsu UniversityZhenjiangChina
| | - Zdenko Herceg
- Epigenomics and Mechanisms Branch, International Agency For Research On CancerLyonFrance
| | - Cyrille Cuenin
- Epigenomics and Mechanisms Branch, International Agency For Research On CancerLyonFrance
| | - Maria Derakhshan
- Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical MedicineGambiaUnited Kingdom
| | - Philip T James
- Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical MedicineGambiaUnited Kingdom
| | - David Monk
- Biomedical Research Centre, University of East AngliaNorwichUnited Kingdom
- Bellvitge Institute for Biomedical ResearchBarcelonaSpain
| | - Andrew M Prentice
- Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical MedicineGambiaUnited Kingdom
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22
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OUP accepted manuscript. Hum Reprod Update 2022; 28:629-655. [DOI: 10.1093/humupd/dmac010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2021] [Revised: 02/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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Pastor WA, Kwon SY. Distinctive aspects of the placental epigenome and theories as to how they arise. Cell Mol Life Sci 2022; 79:569. [PMID: 36287261 PMCID: PMC9606139 DOI: 10.1007/s00018-022-04568-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2022] [Revised: 08/18/2022] [Accepted: 09/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
The placenta has a methylome dramatically unlike that of any somatic cell type. Among other distinctions, it features low global DNA methylation, extensive “partially methylated domains” packed in dense heterochromatin and methylation of hundreds of CpG islands important in somatic development. These features attract interest in part because a substantial fraction of human cancers feature the exact same phenomena, suggesting parallels between epigenome formation in placentation and cancer. Placenta also features an expanded set of imprinted genes, some of which come about by distinctive developmental pathways. Recent discoveries, some from far outside the placental field, shed new light on how the unusual placental epigenetic state may arise. Nonetheless, key questions remain unresolved.
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Affiliation(s)
- William A Pastor
- Department of Biochemistry, McGill University, Montreal, QC, H3G 1Y6, Canada.
- Rosalind & Morris Goodman Cancer Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC, H3A 1A3, Canada.
| | - Sin Young Kwon
- Department of Biochemistry, McGill University, Montreal, QC, H3G 1Y6, Canada
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Allen MC, Moog NK, Buss C, Yen E, Gustafsson HC, Sullivan EL, Graham AM. Co-occurrence of preconception maternal childhood adversity and opioid use during pregnancy: Implications for offspring brain development. Neurotoxicol Teratol 2021; 88:107033. [PMID: 34601061 PMCID: PMC8578395 DOI: 10.1016/j.ntt.2021.107033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2021] [Revised: 09/20/2021] [Accepted: 09/24/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Understanding of the effects of in utero opioid exposure on neurodevelopment is a priority given the recent dramatic increase in opioid use among pregnant individuals. However, opioid abuse does not occur in isolation-pregnant individuals abusing opioids often have a significant history of adverse experiences in childhood, among other co-occurring factors. Understanding the specific pathways in which these frequently co-occurring factors may interact and cumulatively influence offspring brain development in utero represents a priority for future research in this area. We highlight maternal history of childhood adversity (CA) as one such co-occurring factor that is more prevalent among individuals using opioids during pregnancy and which is increasingly shown to affect offspring neurodevelopment through mechanisms beginning in utero. Despite the high incidence of CA history in pregnant individuals using opioids, we understand very little about the effects of comorbid prenatal opioid exposure and maternal CA history on fetal brain development. Here, we first provide an overview of current knowledge regarding effects of opioid exposure and maternal CA on offspring neurodevelopment that may occur during gestation. We then outline potential mechanistic pathways through which these factors might have interactive and cumulative influences on offspring neurodevelopment as a foundation for future research in this area.
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Affiliation(s)
- Madeleine C Allen
- Department of Psychiatry, Oregon Health & Science University, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Rd., Portland, OR 97239, United States
| | - Nora K Moog
- Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institute of Medical Psychology, Luisenstrasse 57, 10117 Berlin, Germany
| | - Claudia Buss
- Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institute of Medical Psychology, Luisenstrasse 57, 10117 Berlin, Germany; Development, Health and Disease Research Program, University of California, Irvine, 837 Health Sciences Drive, Irvine, California 92697, United States
| | - Elizabeth Yen
- Department of Pediatrics, Tufts Medical Center, Boston, MA 02111, United States
| | - Hanna C Gustafsson
- Department of Psychiatry, Oregon Health & Science University, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Rd., Portland, OR 97239, United States
| | - Elinor L Sullivan
- Department of Psychiatry, Oregon Health & Science University, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Rd., Portland, OR 97239, United States; Division of Neuroscience, Oregon National Primate Research Center, 505 NW 185(th) Ave., Beaverton, OR 97006, United States; Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Rd., Portland, OR 97239, United States
| | - Alice M Graham
- Department of Psychiatry, Oregon Health & Science University, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Rd., Portland, OR 97239, United States.
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Chu C, Zhang W, Kang Y, Si C, Ji W, Niu Y, Zhang Y. Analysis of developmental imprinting dynamics in primates using SNP-free methods to identify imprinting defects in cloned placenta. Dev Cell 2021; 56:2826-2840.e7. [PMID: 34619096 DOI: 10.1016/j.devcel.2021.09.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2021] [Revised: 08/25/2021] [Accepted: 09/10/2021] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Our knowledge of genomic imprinting in primates is lagging behind that of mice largely because of the difficulties of allelic analyses in outbred animals. To understand imprinting dynamics in primates, we profiled transcriptomes, DNA methylomes, and H3K27me3 in uniparental monkey embryos. We further developed single-nucleotide-polymorphism (SNP)-free methods, TARSII and CARSII, to identify germline differentially methylated regions (DMRs) in somatic tissues. Our comprehensive analyses showed that allelic DNA methylation, but not H3K27me3, is a major mark that correlates with paternal-biasedly expressed genes (PEGs) in uniparental monkey embryos. Interestingly, primate germline DMRs are different from PEG-associated DMRs in early embryos and are enriched in placenta. Strikingly, most placenta-specific germline DMRs are lost in placenta of cloned monkeys. Collectively, our study establishes SNP-free germline DMR identification methods, defines developmental imprinting dynamics in primates, and demonstrates imprinting defects in cloned monkey placenta, which provides important clues for improving primate cloning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chu Chu
- State Key Laboratory of Primate Biomedical Research, Institute of Primate Translational Medicine, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, Yunnan 650500, China; Yunnan Key Laboratory of Primate Biomedical Research, Kunming, Yunnan 650500, China; Faculty of Life Science and Technology, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, Yunnan 650500, China
| | - Wenhao Zhang
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
| | - Yu Kang
- State Key Laboratory of Primate Biomedical Research, Institute of Primate Translational Medicine, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, Yunnan 650500, China; Yunnan Key Laboratory of Primate Biomedical Research, Kunming, Yunnan 650500, China; Faculty of Life Science and Technology, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, Yunnan 650500, China
| | - Chenyang Si
- State Key Laboratory of Primate Biomedical Research, Institute of Primate Translational Medicine, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, Yunnan 650500, China; Yunnan Key Laboratory of Primate Biomedical Research, Kunming, Yunnan 650500, China; Faculty of Life Science and Technology, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, Yunnan 650500, China
| | - Weizhi Ji
- State Key Laboratory of Primate Biomedical Research, Institute of Primate Translational Medicine, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, Yunnan 650500, China; Yunnan Key Laboratory of Primate Biomedical Research, Kunming, Yunnan 650500, China.
| | - Yuyu Niu
- State Key Laboratory of Primate Biomedical Research, Institute of Primate Translational Medicine, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, Yunnan 650500, China; Yunnan Key Laboratory of Primate Biomedical Research, Kunming, Yunnan 650500, China; Faculty of Life Science and Technology, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, Yunnan 650500, China.
| | - Yi Zhang
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Harvard Stem Cell Institute, WAB-149G, 200 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
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26
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Anvar Z, Chakchouk I, Demond H, Sharif M, Kelsey G, Van den Veyver IB. DNA Methylation Dynamics in the Female Germline and Maternal-Effect Mutations That Disrupt Genomic Imprinting. Genes (Basel) 2021; 12:genes12081214. [PMID: 34440388 PMCID: PMC8394515 DOI: 10.3390/genes12081214] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2021] [Revised: 07/30/2021] [Accepted: 08/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Genomic imprinting is an epigenetic marking process that results in the monoallelic expression of a subset of genes. Many of these ‘imprinted’ genes in mice and humans are involved in embryonic and extraembryonic growth and development, and some have life-long impacts on metabolism. During mammalian development, the genome undergoes waves of (re)programming of DNA methylation and other epigenetic marks. Disturbances in these events can cause imprinting disorders and compromise development. Multi-locus imprinting disturbance (MLID) is a condition by which imprinting defects touch more than one locus. Although most cases with MLID present with clinical features characteristic of one imprinting disorder. Imprinting defects also occur in ‘molar’ pregnancies-which are characterized by highly compromised embryonic development-and in other forms of reproductive compromise presenting clinically as infertility or early pregnancy loss. Pathogenic variants in some of the genes encoding proteins of the subcortical maternal complex (SCMC), a multi-protein complex in the mammalian oocyte, are responsible for a rare subgroup of moles, biparental complete hydatidiform mole (BiCHM), and other adverse reproductive outcomes which have been associated with altered imprinting status of the oocyte, embryo and/or placenta. The finding that defects in a cytoplasmic protein complex could have severe impacts on genomic methylation at critical times in gamete or early embryo development has wider implications beyond these relatively rare disorders. It signifies a potential for adverse maternal physiology, nutrition, or assisted reproduction to cause epigenetic defects at imprinted or other genes. Here, we review key milestones in DNA methylation patterning in the female germline and the embryo focusing on humans. We provide an overview of recent findings regarding DNA methylation deficits causing BiCHM, MLID, and early embryonic arrest. We also summarize identified SCMC mutations with regard to early embryonic arrest, BiCHM, and MLID.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zahra Anvar
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (Z.A.); (I.C.); (M.S.)
- Duncan Neurological Research Institute, Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Imen Chakchouk
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (Z.A.); (I.C.); (M.S.)
- Duncan Neurological Research Institute, Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Hannah Demond
- Epigenetics Programme, Babraham Institute, Cambridge CB22 3AT, UK;
| | - Momal Sharif
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (Z.A.); (I.C.); (M.S.)
- Duncan Neurological Research Institute, Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Gavin Kelsey
- Epigenetics Programme, Babraham Institute, Cambridge CB22 3AT, UK;
- Centre for Trophoblast Research, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EG, UK
- Correspondence: (G.K.); (I.B.V.d.V.); Tel.: +44-1223-496332 (G.K.); +832-824-8125 (I.B.V.d.V.)
| | - Ignatia B. Van den Veyver
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (Z.A.); (I.C.); (M.S.)
- Duncan Neurological Research Institute, Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, TX 77030, USA
- Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
- Correspondence: (G.K.); (I.B.V.d.V.); Tel.: +44-1223-496332 (G.K.); +832-824-8125 (I.B.V.d.V.)
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Lu T, Cardenas A, Perron P, Hivert MF, Bouchard L, Greenwood CMT. Detecting cord blood cell type-specific epigenetic associations with gestational diabetes mellitus and early childhood growth. Clin Epigenetics 2021; 13:131. [PMID: 34174944 PMCID: PMC8236204 DOI: 10.1186/s13148-021-01114-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2021] [Accepted: 06/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Epigenome-wide association studies (EWAS) have provided opportunities to understand the role of epigenetic mechanisms in development and pathophysiology of many chronic diseases. However, an important limitation of conventional EWAS is that profiles of epigenetic variability are often obtained in samples of mixed cell types. Here, we aim to assess whether changes in cord blood DNA methylation (DNAm) associated with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) exposure and early childhood growth markers occur in a cell type-specific manner. RESULTS We analyzed 275 cord blood samples collected at delivery from a prospective pre-birth cohort with genome-wide DNAm profiled by the Illumina MethylationEPIC array. We estimated proportions of seven common cell types in each sample using a cord blood-specific DNAm reference panel. Leveraging a recently developed approach named CellDMC, we performed cell type-specific EWAS to identify CpG loci significantly associated with GDM, or 3-year-old body mass index (BMI) z-score. A total of 1410 CpG loci displayed significant cell type-specific differences in methylation level between 23 GDM cases and 252 controls with a false discovery rate < 0.05. Gene Ontology enrichment analysis indicated that LDL transportation emerged from CpG specifically identified from B-cells DNAm analyses and the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway emerged from CpG specifically identified from natural killer cells DNAm analyses. In addition, we identified four and six loci associated with 3-year-old BMI z-score that were specific to CD8+ T-cells and monocytes, respectively. By performing genome-wide permutation tests, we validated that most of our detected signals had low false positive rates. CONCLUSION Compared to conventional EWAS adjusting for the effects of cell type heterogeneity, the proposed approach based on cell type-specific EWAS could provide additional biologically meaningful associations between CpG methylation, prenatal maternal GDM or 3-year-old BMI. With careful validation, these findings may provide new insights into the pathogenesis, programming, and consequences of related childhood metabolic dysregulation. Therefore, we propose that cell type-specific analyses are worth cautious explorations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tianyuan Lu
- Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, Jewish General Hospital, 3755 Chemin de La Côte-Sainte-Catherine, Montréal, QC, H3T 1E2, Canada
- Quantitative Life Sciences Program, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Andres Cardenas
- Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health and Center for Computational Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Patrice Perron
- Department of Medicine, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada
- Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier, Universitaire de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada
| | - Marie-France Hivert
- Department of Medicine, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada
- Diabetes Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Luigi Bouchard
- Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier, Universitaire de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada
- Department of Biochemistry and Functional Genomics, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada
- Department of Medical Biology, Centre Intégré Universitaire de Santé et de Services Sociaux Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean - Hôpital Universitaire de Chicoutimi, Saguenay, QC, Canada
| | - Celia M T Greenwood
- Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, Jewish General Hospital, 3755 Chemin de La Côte-Sainte-Catherine, Montréal, QC, H3T 1E2, Canada.
- Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada.
- Department of Human Genetics, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada.
- Gerald Bronfman Department of Oncology, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada.
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Migliore L, Nicolì V, Stoccoro A. Gender Specific Differences in Disease Susceptibility: The Role of Epigenetics. Biomedicines 2021; 9:652. [PMID: 34200989 PMCID: PMC8228628 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines9060652] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2021] [Revised: 06/02/2021] [Accepted: 06/05/2021] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Many complex traits or diseases, such as infectious and autoimmune diseases, cancer, xenobiotics exposure, neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases, as well as the outcome of vaccination, show a differential susceptibility between males and females. In general, the female immune system responds more efficiently to pathogens. However, this can lead to over-reactive immune responses, which may explain the higher presence of autoimmune diseases in women, but also potentially the more adverse effects of vaccination in females compared with in males. Many clinical and epidemiological studies reported, for the SARS-CoV-2 infection, a gender-biased differential response; however, the majority of reports dealt with a comparable morbidity, with males, however, showing higher COVID-19 adverse outcomes. Although gender differences in immune responses have been studied predominantly within the context of sex hormone effects, some other mechanisms have been invoked: cellular mosaicism, skewed X chromosome inactivation, genes escaping X chromosome inactivation, and miRNAs encoded on the X chromosome. The hormonal hypothesis as well as other mechanisms will be examined and discussed in the light of the most recent epigenetic findings in the field, as the concept that epigenetics is the unifying mechanism in explaining gender-specific differences is increasingly emerging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucia Migliore
- Department of Translational Research and of New Surgical and Medical Technologies, Medical School, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy; (V.N.); (A.S.)
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria Pisana, 56124 Pisa, Italy
| | - Vanessa Nicolì
- Department of Translational Research and of New Surgical and Medical Technologies, Medical School, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy; (V.N.); (A.S.)
| | - Andrea Stoccoro
- Department of Translational Research and of New Surgical and Medical Technologies, Medical School, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy; (V.N.); (A.S.)
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29
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Yuan V, Hui D, Yin Y, Peñaherrera MS, Beristain AG, Robinson WP. Cell-specific characterization of the placental methylome. BMC Genomics 2021; 22:6. [PMID: 33407091 PMCID: PMC7788826 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-020-07186-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2020] [Accepted: 10/26/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND DNA methylation (DNAm) profiling has emerged as a powerful tool for characterizing the placental methylome. However, previous studies have focused primarily on whole placental tissue, which is a mixture of epigenetically distinct cell populations. Here, we present the first methylome-wide analysis of first trimester (n = 9) and term (n = 19) human placental samples of four cell populations: trophoblasts, Hofbauer cells, endothelial cells, and stromal cells, using the Illumina EPIC methylation array, which quantifies DNAm at > 850,000 CpGs. RESULTS The most distinct DNAm profiles were those of placental trophoblasts, which are central to many pregnancy-essential functions, and Hofbauer cells, which are a rare fetal-derived macrophage population. Cell-specific DNAm occurs at functionally-relevant genes, including genes associated with placental development and preeclampsia. Known placental-specific methylation marks, such as those associated with genomic imprinting, repetitive element hypomethylation, and placental partially methylated domains, were found to be more pronounced in trophoblasts and often absent in Hofbauer cells. Lastly, we characterize the cell composition and cell-specific DNAm dynamics across gestation. CONCLUSIONS Our results provide a comprehensive analysis of DNAm in human placental cell types from first trimester and term pregnancies. This data will serve as a useful DNAm reference for future placental studies, and we provide access to this data via download from GEO (GSE159526), through interactive exploration from the web browser ( https://robinsonlab.shinyapps.io/Placental_Methylome_Browser/ ), and through the R package planet, which allows estimation of cell composition directly from placental DNAm data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victor Yuan
- BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, BC Canada
- Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC Canada
| | - Desmond Hui
- BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, BC Canada
- Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC Canada
| | - Yifan Yin
- BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, BC Canada
- Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC Canada
| | - Maria S. Peñaherrera
- BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, BC Canada
- Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC Canada
| | - Alexander G. Beristain
- BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, BC Canada
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC Canada
| | - Wendy P. Robinson
- BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, BC Canada
- Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC Canada
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30
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Vasilyev SA, Tolmacheva EN, Vasilyeva OY, Markov AV, Zhigalina DI, Zatula LA, Lee VA, Serdyukova ES, Sazhenova EA, Nikitina TV, Kashevarova AA, Lebedev IN. LINE-1 retrotransposon methylation in chorionic villi of first trimester miscarriages with aneuploidy. J Assist Reprod Genet 2021; 38:139-149. [PMID: 33170392 PMCID: PMC7823001 DOI: 10.1007/s10815-020-02003-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2020] [Accepted: 11/02/2020] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE High frequency of aneuploidy in meiosis and cleavage stage coincides with waves of epigenetic genome reprogramming that may indicate a possible association between epigenetic mechanisms and aneuploidy occurrence. This study aimed to assess the methylation level of the long interspersed repeat element 1 (LINE-1) retrotransposon in chorionic villi of first trimester miscarriages with a normal karyotype and aneuploidy. METHODS The methylation level was assessed at 19 LINE-1 promoter CpG sites in chorionic villi of 141 miscarriages with trisomy of chromosomes 2, 6, 8-10, 13-15, 16, 18, 20-22, and monosomy X using massive parallel sequencing. RESULTS The LINE-1 methylation level was elevated statistically significant in chorionic villi of miscarriages with both trisomy (45.2 ± 4.3%) and monosomy X (46.9 ± 4.2%) compared with that in induced abortions (40.0 ± 2.4%) (p < 0.00001). The LINE-1 methylation levels were specific for miscarriages with different aneuploidies and significantly increased in miscarriages with trisomies 8, 14, and 18 and monosomy X (p < 0.05). The LINE-1 methylation level increased with gestational age both for group of miscarriages regardless of karyotype (R = 0.21, p = 0.012) and specifically for miscarriages with trisomy 16 (R = 0.48, p = 0.007). LINE-1 methylation decreased with maternal age in miscarriages with a normal karyotype (R = - 0.31, p = 0.029) and with trisomy 21 (R = - 0.64, p = 0.024) and increased with paternal age for miscarriages with trisomy 16 (R = 0.38, p = 0.048) and monosomy X (R = 0.73, p = 0.003). CONCLUSION Our results indicate that the pathogenic effects of aneuploidy in human embryogenesis can be supplemented with significant epigenetic changes in the repetitive sequences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stanislav A Vasilyev
- Research Institute of Medical Genetics, Tomsk National Research Medical Center, Nab. R. Ushaiki, 10, Tomsk, Russia.
- Biological Institute, National Research Tomsk State University, Lenina, 36, Tomsk, Russia.
| | - Ekaterina N Tolmacheva
- Research Institute of Medical Genetics, Tomsk National Research Medical Center, Nab. R. Ushaiki, 10, Tomsk, Russia
| | - Oksana Yu Vasilyeva
- Research Institute of Medical Genetics, Tomsk National Research Medical Center, Nab. R. Ushaiki, 10, Tomsk, Russia
| | - Anton V Markov
- Research Institute of Medical Genetics, Tomsk National Research Medical Center, Nab. R. Ushaiki, 10, Tomsk, Russia
| | - Daria I Zhigalina
- Research Institute of Medical Genetics, Tomsk National Research Medical Center, Nab. R. Ushaiki, 10, Tomsk, Russia
| | - Lada A Zatula
- Department of Medical Genetics, Siberian State Medical University, Moskovskiy Trakt, 2, Tomsk, Russia
| | - Vasilissa A Lee
- Department of Medical Genetics, Siberian State Medical University, Moskovskiy Trakt, 2, Tomsk, Russia
| | - Ekaterina S Serdyukova
- Biological Institute, National Research Tomsk State University, Lenina, 36, Tomsk, Russia
| | - Elena A Sazhenova
- Research Institute of Medical Genetics, Tomsk National Research Medical Center, Nab. R. Ushaiki, 10, Tomsk, Russia
| | - Tatyana V Nikitina
- Research Institute of Medical Genetics, Tomsk National Research Medical Center, Nab. R. Ushaiki, 10, Tomsk, Russia
| | - Anna A Kashevarova
- Research Institute of Medical Genetics, Tomsk National Research Medical Center, Nab. R. Ushaiki, 10, Tomsk, Russia
| | - Igor N Lebedev
- Research Institute of Medical Genetics, Tomsk National Research Medical Center, Nab. R. Ushaiki, 10, Tomsk, Russia
- Department of Medical Genetics, Siberian State Medical University, Moskovskiy Trakt, 2, Tomsk, Russia
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Monteagudo-Sánchez A, Hernandez Mora JR, Simon C, Burton A, Tenorio J, Lapunzina P, Clark S, Esteller M, Kelsey G, López-Siguero JP, de Nanclares GP, Torres-Padilla ME, Monk D. The role of ZFP57 and additional KRAB-zinc finger proteins in the maintenance of human imprinted methylation and multi-locus imprinting disturbances. Nucleic Acids Res 2020; 48:11394-11407. [PMID: 33053156 PMCID: PMC7672439 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkaa837] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2020] [Revised: 09/10/2020] [Accepted: 10/13/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Genomic imprinting is an epigenetic process regulated by germline-derived DNA methylation that is resistant to embryonic reprogramming, resulting in parental origin-specific monoallelic gene expression. A subset of individuals affected by imprinting disorders (IDs) displays multi-locus imprinting disturbances (MLID), which may result from aberrant establishment of imprinted differentially methylated regions (DMRs) in gametes or their maintenance in early embryogenesis. Here we investigated the extent of MLID in a family harbouring a ZFP57 truncating variant and characterize the interactions between human ZFP57 and the KAP1 co-repressor complex. By ectopically targeting ZFP57 to reprogrammed loci in mouse embryos using a dCas9 approach, we confirm that ZFP57 recruitment is sufficient to protect oocyte-derived methylation from reprogramming. Expression profiling in human pre-implantation embryos and oocytes reveals that unlike in mice, ZFP57 is only expressed following embryonic-genome activation, implying that other KRAB-zinc finger proteins (KZNFs) recruit KAP1 prior to blastocyst formation. Furthermore, we uncover ZNF202 and ZNF445 as additional KZNFs likely to recruit KAP1 to imprinted loci during reprogramming in the absence of ZFP57. Together, these data confirm the perplexing link between KZFPs and imprint maintenance and highlight the differences between mouse and humans in this respect.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Monteagudo-Sánchez
- Imprinting and Cancer group, Bellvitge Institute for Biomedical Research, Gran via, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Jose Ramon Hernandez Mora
- Imprinting and Cancer group, Bellvitge Institute for Biomedical Research, Gran via, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Carlos Simon
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Valencia University and INCLIVA, Valencia, Spain.,Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, BIDMC, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Adam Burton
- Institute of Epigenetics and Stem Cells, Helmholtz Zentrum München, München, Germany
| | - Jair Tenorio
- Medical and Molecular Genetics Institute, University Hospital La Paz, Madrid, Spain.,CIBERER, Centro de Investigacion Biomedica en Red de Enfermedades Raras, ISCIII, Madrid, Spain
| | - Pablo Lapunzina
- Medical and Molecular Genetics Institute, University Hospital La Paz, Madrid, Spain.,CIBERER, Centro de Investigacion Biomedica en Red de Enfermedades Raras, ISCIII, Madrid, Spain.,ITHACA, European Reference Network on Rare Congenital Malformations and Rare Intellectual Disability
| | - Stephen Clark
- Epigenetics Programme, The Babraham Institute, Babraham, Cambridge, UK
| | - Manel Esteller
- Josep Carreras Leukeamia Research Institute, Can Ruti, Cami de les Escoles, Badalona, Barcelona, Spain.,Department of Physiological Sciences II, School of Medicine, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.,Institucio Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.,Centro de Investigacion Biomedica en Red Cancer (CIBERONC), Madrid, Spain
| | - Gavin Kelsey
- Epigenetics Programme, The Babraham Institute, Babraham, Cambridge, UK.,Centre for Trophoblast Research, University of Cambridge, UK
| | | | - Guiomar Perez de Nanclares
- (Epi)Genetics Laboratory, BioAraba Research Health Institute, Araba University Hospital, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Alava, Spain
| | | | - David Monk
- Imprinting and Cancer group, Bellvitge Institute for Biomedical Research, Gran via, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain.,Biomedical Research Centre, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, UK
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32
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The role and mechanisms of DNA methylation in the oocyte. Essays Biochem 2020; 63:691-705. [PMID: 31782490 PMCID: PMC6923320 DOI: 10.1042/ebc20190043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2019] [Revised: 10/29/2019] [Accepted: 10/29/2019] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Epigenetic information in the mammalian oocyte has the potential to be transmitted to the next generation and influence gene expression; this occurs naturally in the case of imprinted genes. Therefore, it is important to understand how epigenetic information is patterned during oocyte development and growth. Here, we review the current state of knowledge of de novo DNA methylation mechanisms in the oocyte: how a distinctive gene-body methylation pattern is created, and the extent to which the DNA methylation machinery reads chromatin states. Recent epigenomic studies building on advances in ultra-low input chromatin profiling methods, coupled with genetic studies, have started to allow a detailed interrogation of the interplay between DNA methylation establishment and chromatin states; however, a full mechanistic description awaits.
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33
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Huo Y, Yan ZQ, Yuan P, Qin M, Kuo Y, Li R, Yan LY, Feng HL, Qiao J. Single-cell DNA methylation sequencing reveals epigenetic alterations in mouse oocytes superovulated with different dosages of gonadotropins. Clin Epigenetics 2020; 12:75. [PMID: 32487258 PMCID: PMC7268365 DOI: 10.1186/s13148-020-00866-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2019] [Accepted: 05/19/2020] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Epigenetic abnormalities caused by superovulation have recently attracted increasing attention. Superovulation with exogenous hormones may prevent oocytes from establishing an appropriate epigenetic state, and this effect may extend to the methylation programming in preimplantation embryos, as de novo DNA methylation is a function of developmental stage of follicles and oocyte size. Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and human menopausal gonadotropin (hMG) are common gonadotropins used for superovulation, and appropriate concentrations of these gonadotropins might be necessary. However, no systematic study on the effects of DNA methylation alterations in oocytes associated with superovulation with different dosages of FSH/hMG at the single-cell level has yet been reported. In the current study, different dosages of FSH/hMG combined with human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) were used in female mice to generate experimental groups, while naturally matured oocytes and oocytes superovulated with only hCG were respectively used as controls. Single-cell level DNA methylation sequencing was carried out on all these matured oocytes. RESULTS In this study, we revealed that the genome-wide methylation pattern and CG methylation level of the maternal imprinting control regions of all mature oocytes were globally conserved and stable. However, methylation alterations associated with superovulation were found at a specific set of loci, and the differentially methylated regions (DMRs) mainly occurred in regions other than promoters. Furthermore, some of the annotated genes in the DMRs were involved in biological processes such as glucose metabolism, nervous system development, cell cycle, cell proliferation, and embryo implantation and were altered in all dosages of FSH/hMG group (for example, Gfod2 and SYF2). Other genes were impaired only after high gonadotropin dosages (for instance, Sox17 and Phactr4). CONCLUSIONS In conclusion, the current study addressed the effects of superovulation on DNA methylation from the perspective of different dosages of gonadotropins at the single-cell level. We found that the genome-wide DNA methylation landscape was globally preserved irrespective of superovulation or of the kind and dosage of gonadotropins used, whereas the methylation alterations associated with superovulation occurred at a specific set of loci. These observed effects reflect that superovulation recruits oocytes that would not normally be ovulated or that have not undergone complete epigenetic maturation. Our results provide an important reference for the safety assessment of superovulation with different dosages of gonadotropins. However, it should be noted that this study has some limitations, as the sample number and library coverage of analyzed oocytes were relatively low. Future studies with larger sample sizes and high-coverage libraries that examine the effects of superovulation on embryo development and offspring health as well as the underlying mechanisms are still needed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ying Huo
- Center for Reproductive Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking University Third Hospital, No. 49 North HuaYuan Road, Hai Dian District, Beijing, 100191, China.,Key Laboratory of Assisted Reproduction, Ministry of Education, No. 49 North HuaYuan Road, Hai Dian District, Beijing, 100191, China.,Beijing Key Laboratory of Reproductive Endocrinology and Assisted Reproduction, No. 49 North HuaYuan Road, Hai Dian District, Beijing, 100191, China.,Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, No. 38 XueYuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100191, China
| | - Zhi Qiang Yan
- Center for Reproductive Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking University Third Hospital, No. 49 North HuaYuan Road, Hai Dian District, Beijing, 100191, China.,Key Laboratory of Assisted Reproduction, Ministry of Education, No. 49 North HuaYuan Road, Hai Dian District, Beijing, 100191, China.,Beijing Key Laboratory of Reproductive Endocrinology and Assisted Reproduction, No. 49 North HuaYuan Road, Hai Dian District, Beijing, 100191, China.,Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China
| | - Peng Yuan
- Center for Reproductive Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking University Third Hospital, No. 49 North HuaYuan Road, Hai Dian District, Beijing, 100191, China.,Key Laboratory of Assisted Reproduction, Ministry of Education, No. 49 North HuaYuan Road, Hai Dian District, Beijing, 100191, China.,Beijing Key Laboratory of Reproductive Endocrinology and Assisted Reproduction, No. 49 North HuaYuan Road, Hai Dian District, Beijing, 100191, China
| | - Meng Qin
- Center for Reproductive Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking University Third Hospital, No. 49 North HuaYuan Road, Hai Dian District, Beijing, 100191, China.,Key Laboratory of Assisted Reproduction, Ministry of Education, No. 49 North HuaYuan Road, Hai Dian District, Beijing, 100191, China.,Beijing Key Laboratory of Reproductive Endocrinology and Assisted Reproduction, No. 49 North HuaYuan Road, Hai Dian District, Beijing, 100191, China
| | - Ying Kuo
- Center for Reproductive Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking University Third Hospital, No. 49 North HuaYuan Road, Hai Dian District, Beijing, 100191, China.,Key Laboratory of Assisted Reproduction, Ministry of Education, No. 49 North HuaYuan Road, Hai Dian District, Beijing, 100191, China.,Beijing Key Laboratory of Reproductive Endocrinology and Assisted Reproduction, No. 49 North HuaYuan Road, Hai Dian District, Beijing, 100191, China
| | - Rong Li
- Center for Reproductive Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking University Third Hospital, No. 49 North HuaYuan Road, Hai Dian District, Beijing, 100191, China.,Key Laboratory of Assisted Reproduction, Ministry of Education, No. 49 North HuaYuan Road, Hai Dian District, Beijing, 100191, China.,Beijing Key Laboratory of Reproductive Endocrinology and Assisted Reproduction, No. 49 North HuaYuan Road, Hai Dian District, Beijing, 100191, China.,National Clinical Research Center of Obstetrics and Gynecology, No. 49 North HuaYuan Road, Hai Dian District, Beijing, 100191, China
| | - Li Ying Yan
- Center for Reproductive Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking University Third Hospital, No. 49 North HuaYuan Road, Hai Dian District, Beijing, 100191, China.,Key Laboratory of Assisted Reproduction, Ministry of Education, No. 49 North HuaYuan Road, Hai Dian District, Beijing, 100191, China.,Beijing Key Laboratory of Reproductive Endocrinology and Assisted Reproduction, No. 49 North HuaYuan Road, Hai Dian District, Beijing, 100191, China.,National Clinical Research Center of Obstetrics and Gynecology, No. 49 North HuaYuan Road, Hai Dian District, Beijing, 100191, China
| | - Huai Liang Feng
- The New York Fertility Center, New York Hospital Queens, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, NY, USA.
| | - Jie Qiao
- Center for Reproductive Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking University Third Hospital, No. 49 North HuaYuan Road, Hai Dian District, Beijing, 100191, China. .,Key Laboratory of Assisted Reproduction, Ministry of Education, No. 49 North HuaYuan Road, Hai Dian District, Beijing, 100191, China. .,Beijing Key Laboratory of Reproductive Endocrinology and Assisted Reproduction, No. 49 North HuaYuan Road, Hai Dian District, Beijing, 100191, China. .,Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, No. 38 XueYuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100191, China. .,National Clinical Research Center of Obstetrics and Gynecology, No. 49 North HuaYuan Road, Hai Dian District, Beijing, 100191, China.
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Ivanova E, Canovas S, Garcia-Martínez S, Romar R, Lopes JS, Rizos D, Sanchez-Calabuig MJ, Krueger F, Andrews S, Perez-Sanz F, Kelsey G, Coy P. DNA methylation changes during preimplantation development reveal inter-species differences and reprogramming events at imprinted genes. Clin Epigenetics 2020; 12:64. [PMID: 32393379 PMCID: PMC7216732 DOI: 10.1186/s13148-020-00857-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2019] [Accepted: 04/23/2020] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Preimplantation embryos experience profound resetting of epigenetic information inherited from the gametes. Genome-wide analysis at single-base resolution has shown similarities but also species differences between human and mouse preimplantation embryos in DNA methylation patterns and reprogramming. Here, we have extended such analysis to two key livestock species, the pig and the cow. We generated genome-wide DNA methylation and whole-transcriptome datasets from gametes to blastocysts in both species. In oocytes from both species, a distinctive bimodal methylation landscape is present, with hypermethylated domains prevalent over hypomethylated domains, similar to human, while in the mouse the proportions are reversed.An oocyte-like pattern of methylation persists in the cleavage stages, albeit with some reduction in methylation level, persisting to blastocysts in cow, while pig blastocysts have a highly hypomethylated landscape. In the pig, there was evidence of transient de novo methylation at the 8-16 cell stages of domains unmethylated in oocytes, revealing a complex dynamic of methylation reprogramming. The methylation datasets were used to identify germline differentially methylated regions (gDMRs) of known imprinted genes and for the basis of detection of novel imprinted loci. Strikingly in the pig, we detected a consistent reduction in gDMR methylation at the 8-16 cell stages, followed by recovery to the blastocyst stage, suggesting an active period of imprint stabilization in preimplantation embryos. Transcriptome analysis revealed absence of expression in oocytes of both species of ZFP57, a key factor in the mouse for gDMR methylation maintenance, but presence of the alternative imprint regulator ZNF445. In conclusion, our study reveals species differences in DNA methylation reprogramming and suggests that porcine or bovine models may be closer to human in key aspects than in the mouse model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena Ivanova
- Epigenetics Programme, The Babraham Institute, Cambridge, CB22 3AT, UK
| | - Sebastian Canovas
- Physiology of Reproduction Group, Departamento de Fisiología, Universidad de Murcia, Campus Mare Nostrum, 30100, Murcia, Spain
- Instituto Murciano de Investigación Biosanitaria, IMIB-Arrixaca-UMU, 30120, Murcia, Spain
| | - Soledad Garcia-Martínez
- Physiology of Reproduction Group, Departamento de Fisiología, Universidad de Murcia, Campus Mare Nostrum, 30100, Murcia, Spain
| | - Raquel Romar
- Physiology of Reproduction Group, Departamento de Fisiología, Universidad de Murcia, Campus Mare Nostrum, 30100, Murcia, Spain
- Instituto Murciano de Investigación Biosanitaria, IMIB-Arrixaca-UMU, 30120, Murcia, Spain
| | - Jordana S Lopes
- Physiology of Reproduction Group, Departamento de Fisiología, Universidad de Murcia, Campus Mare Nostrum, 30100, Murcia, Spain
| | | | | | - Felix Krueger
- Bioinformatics Group, The Babraham Institute, Cambridge, CB22 3AT, UK
| | - Simon Andrews
- Bioinformatics Group, The Babraham Institute, Cambridge, CB22 3AT, UK
| | - Fernando Perez-Sanz
- Instituto Murciano de Investigación Biosanitaria, IMIB-Arrixaca-UMU, 30120, Murcia, Spain
| | - Gavin Kelsey
- Epigenetics Programme, The Babraham Institute, Cambridge, CB22 3AT, UK.
- Centre for Trophoblast Research, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EG, UK.
| | - Pilar Coy
- Physiology of Reproduction Group, Departamento de Fisiología, Universidad de Murcia, Campus Mare Nostrum, 30100, Murcia, Spain.
- Instituto Murciano de Investigación Biosanitaria, IMIB-Arrixaca-UMU, 30120, Murcia, Spain.
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35
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Abstract
As the maternal–foetal interface, the placenta is essential for the establishment and progression of healthy pregnancy, regulating both foetal growth and maternal adaptation to pregnancy. The evolution and functional importance of genomic imprinting are inextricably linked to mammalian placentation. Recent technological advances in mapping and manipulating the epigenome in embryogenesis in mouse models have revealed novel mechanisms regulating genomic imprinting in placental trophoblast, the physiological implications of which are only just beginning to be explored. This review will highlight important recent discoveries and exciting new directions in the study of placental imprinting. The placenta is essential for healthy pregnancy because it supports the growth of the baby, helps the mother’s body adapt, and provides a connection between mother and the developing baby. Studying gene regulation and the early steps in placental development is challenging in human pregnancy, so mouse models have been key in building our understanding of these processes. In particular, these studies have identified a subset of genes that are essential for placentation, termed imprinted genes. Imprinted genes are those that are expressed from only one copy, depending on whether they were inherited from mom or dad. In this review, I describe recent novel approaches used to study the mechanisms regulating these imprinted genes in mouse models, and I highlight several new discoveries. It has become apparent that the regulation of imprinted genes in placenta is often unique from other tissues and that there are species-specific mechanisms allowing the evolution of new imprinted genes specifically in the placenta.
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Affiliation(s)
- Courtney W. Hanna
- Centre for Trophoblast Research, Department of Physiology, Development, and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
- Epigenetics Programme, Babraham Institute, Cambridge, United Kingdom
- * E-mail:
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36
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Hivert MF, Cardenas A, Allard C, Doyon M, Powe CE, Catalano PM, Perron P, Bouchard L. Interplay of Placental DNA Methylation and Maternal Insulin Sensitivity in Pregnancy. Diabetes 2020; 69:484-492. [PMID: 31882564 PMCID: PMC7213861 DOI: 10.2337/db19-0798] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2019] [Accepted: 12/24/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
The placenta participates in maternal insulin sensitivity changes during pregnancy; however, mechanisms remain unclear. We investigated associations between maternal insulin sensitivity and placental DNA methylation markers across the genome. We analyzed data from 430 mother-offspring dyads in the Gen3G cohort. All women underwent 75-g oral glucose tolerance tests at ∼26 weeks of gestation; we used glucose and insulin measures to estimate insulin sensitivity (Matsuda index). At delivery, we collected samples from placenta (fetal side) and measured DNA methylation using Illumina EPIC arrays. Using linear regression models to quantify associations at 720,077 cytosine-guanine dinucleotides (CpGs), with adjustment for maternal age, gravidity, smoking, BMI, child sex, and gestational age at delivery, we identified 188 CpG sites where placental DNA methylation was associated with Matsuda index (P < 6.94 × 10-8). Among genes annotated to these 188 CpGs, we found enrichment in targets for miRNAs, in histone modifications, and in parent-of-origin DNA methylation including the H19/MIR675 locus (paternally imprinted). We identified 12 known placenta imprinted genes, including KCNQ1 Mendelian randomization analyses revealed five loci where placenta DNA methylation may causally influence maternal insulin sensitivity, including the maternally imprinted gene DLGAP2. Our results suggest that placental DNA methylation is fundamentally linked to the regulation of maternal insulin sensitivity in pregnancy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marie-France Hivert
- Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston, MA
- Diabetes Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
- Department of Medicine, Faculté de médecine et des sciences de la santé, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada
| | - Andres Cardenas
- Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
| | - Catherine Allard
- Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada
| | - Myriam Doyon
- Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada
| | - Camille E Powe
- Diabetes Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
| | - Patrick M Catalano
- Mother Infant Research Institute, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tufts Medical Center, Tufts University School of Medicine and Friedman School of Nutrition and Science Policy, Boston, MA
| | - Patrice Perron
- Department of Medicine, Faculté de médecine et des sciences de la santé, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada
- Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada
| | - Luigi Bouchard
- Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculté de médecine et des sciences de la santé, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada
- Department of Medical Biology, CIUSSS du Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Hôpital de Chicoutimi, Saguenay, Quebec, Canada
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Deyssenroth MA, Marsit CJ, Chen J, Lambertini L. In-depth characterization of the placental imprintome reveals novel differentially methylated regions across birth weight categories. Epigenetics 2020; 15:47-60. [PMID: 31403346 PMCID: PMC6961688 DOI: 10.1080/15592294.2019.1647945] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2019] [Revised: 06/11/2019] [Accepted: 06/18/2019] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Imprinted genes play a pivotal role in placental processes underlying fetal development, and much interest centers on discerning whether these loci, via changes in DNA methylation and/or gene expression, inform disruptions in appropriate fetal growth. In this study, we comprehensively profiled DNA methylation across the placental imprintome and assessed the relationship with gene expression levels and aberrant fetal growth.Placental DNA methylation across 153 imprinted loci, including imprint control regions (ICR) and surrounding non-ICR regions, was surveyed using the Nimblegen TruSeq bisulfite sequencing platform among participants enrolled in the Rhode Island Child Health Study (RICHS, n = 163). Methylation and gene expression associations were assessed using eQTM analysis. Differential methylation analysis contrasting small (SGA) and large for gestational age (LGA) infants against appropriate for gestational age (AGA) infants was assessed using the DMRcate R package.We identified 34 SGA-related differentially methylated regions (DMRs) and 9 LGA-related DMRs (FDR<0.05), and these BW-DMRs predominated in promoter and intronic regions. We observed overall hypomethylation among SGA-DMRs overlapping maternally expressed (paternally imprinted) genes while no parent-of-origin effect was observed among LGA DMRs. Three BW-DMRs, mapping to GABRG3, IGF1R and MEST, were common to SGA and LGA placenta. We did not observe significant correlations between BW-DMR-associated CpG methylation and gene expression levels.We report the first in-depth characterization of the placental imprintome in a population-wide setting. Our findings reveal growth-related differences in methylation without concomitant expression differences in regions that extend beyond typically interrogated imprinted loci, highlighting potentially novel placental biomarkers of growth and development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maya A. Deyssenroth
- Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Carmen J. Marsit
- Environmental Health at Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Jia Chen
- Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Oncological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Luca Lambertini
- Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
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Saenz-de-Juano MD, Ivanova E, Billooye K, Herta AC, Smitz J, Kelsey G, Anckaert E. Genome-wide assessment of DNA methylation in mouse oocytes reveals effects associated with in vitro growth, superovulation, and sexual maturity. Clin Epigenetics 2019; 11:197. [PMID: 31856890 PMCID: PMC6923880 DOI: 10.1186/s13148-019-0794-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2019] [Accepted: 12/03/2019] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Background In vitro follicle culture (IFC), as applied in the mouse system, allows the growth and maturation of a large number of immature preantral follicles to become mature and competent oocytes. In the human oncofertility clinic, there is increasing interest in developing this technique as an alternative to ovarian cortical tissue transplantation and to preserve the fertility of prepubertal cancer patients. However, the effect of IFC and hormonal stimulation on DNA methylation in the oocyte is not fully known, and there is legitimate concern over epigenetic abnormalities that could be induced by procedures applied during assisted reproductive technology (ART). Results In this study, we present the first genome-wide analysis of DNA methylation in MII oocytes obtained after natural ovulation, after IFC and after superovulation. We also performed a comparison between prepubertal and adult hormonally stimulated oocytes. Globally, the distinctive methylation landscape of oocytes, comprising alternating hyper- and hypomethylated domains, is preserved irrespective of the procedure. The conservation of methylation extends to the germline differential methylated regions (DMRs) of imprinted genes, necessary for their monoallelic expression in the embryo. However, we do detect specific, consistent, and coherent differences in DNA methylation in IFC oocytes, and between oocytes obtained after superovulation from prepubertal compared with sexually mature females. Several methylation differences span entire transcription units. Among these, we found alterations in Tcf4, Sox5, Zfp521, and other genes related to nervous system development. Conclusions Our observations show that IFC is associated with altered methylation at specific set of loci. DNA methylation of superovulated prepubertal oocytes differs from that of superovulated adult oocytes, whereas oocytes from superovulated adult females differ very little from naturally ovulated oocytes. Importantly, we show that regions other than imprinted gDMRs are susceptible to methylation changes associated with superovulation, IFC, and/or sexual immaturity in mouse oocytes. Our results provide an important reference for the use of in vitro growth and maturation of oocytes, particularly from prepubertal females, in assisted reproductive treatments or fertility preservation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Desemparats Saenz-de-Juano
- Follicle Biology Laboratory (FOBI), UZ Brussel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Laarbeeklaan, Brussels, Belgium.,Present Address: Animal Physiology, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Elena Ivanova
- Epigenetics Programme, Babraham Institute, Cambridge, CB22 3AT, UK
| | - Katy Billooye
- Follicle Biology Laboratory (FOBI), UZ Brussel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Laarbeeklaan, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Anamaria-Cristina Herta
- Follicle Biology Laboratory (FOBI), UZ Brussel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Laarbeeklaan, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Johan Smitz
- Follicle Biology Laboratory (FOBI), UZ Brussel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Laarbeeklaan, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Gavin Kelsey
- Epigenetics Programme, Babraham Institute, Cambridge, CB22 3AT, UK.,Centre for Trophoblast Research, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EG, UK
| | - Ellen Anckaert
- Follicle Biology Laboratory (FOBI), UZ Brussel, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Laarbeeklaan, Brussels, Belgium.
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Bogutz AB, Brind'Amour J, Kobayashi H, Jensen KN, Nakabayashi K, Imai H, Lorincz MC, Lefebvre L. Evolution of imprinting via lineage-specific insertion of retroviral promoters. Nat Commun 2019; 10:5674. [PMID: 31831741 PMCID: PMC6908575 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-13662-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2019] [Accepted: 11/14/2019] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Imprinted genes are expressed from a single parental allele, with the other allele often silenced by DNA methylation (DNAme) established in the germline. While species-specific imprinted orthologues have been documented, the molecular mechanisms underlying the evolutionary switch from biallelic to imprinted expression are unknown. During mouse oogenesis, gametic differentially methylated regions (gDMRs) acquire DNAme in a transcription-guided manner. Here we show that oocyte transcription initiating in lineage-specific endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) is likely responsible for DNAme establishment at 4/6 mouse-specific and 17/110 human-specific imprinted gDMRs. The latter are divided into Catarrhini- or Hominoidea-specific gDMRs embedded within transcripts initiating in ERVs specific to these primate lineages. Strikingly, imprinting of the maternally methylated genes Impact and Slc38a4 was lost in the offspring of female mice harboring deletions of the relevant murine-specific ERVs upstream of these genes. Our work reveals an evolutionary mechanism whereby maternally silenced genes arise from biallelically expressed progenitors. Although many species-specific imprinted genes have been identified, how the evolutionary switch from biallelic to imprinted expression occurs is still unknown. Here authors find that lineage-specific ERVs active as oocyte promoters can induce de novo DNA methylation at gDMRs and imprinting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aaron B Bogutz
- Department of Medical Genetics, Molecular Epigenetics Group, Life Sciences Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Julie Brind'Amour
- Department of Medical Genetics, Molecular Epigenetics Group, Life Sciences Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Hisato Kobayashi
- Department of Embryology, Nara Medical University, Kashihara, Nara, 634-8521, Japan
| | - Kristoffer N Jensen
- Department of Medical Genetics, Molecular Epigenetics Group, Life Sciences Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Kazuhiko Nakabayashi
- Division of Developmental Genomics, Research Institute, National Center for Child Health and Development, Setagaya, Tokyo, 157-8535, Japan
| | - Hiroo Imai
- Molecular Biology Section, Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi, 484-8506, Japan
| | - Matthew C Lorincz
- Department of Medical Genetics, Molecular Epigenetics Group, Life Sciences Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada.
| | - Louis Lefebvre
- Department of Medical Genetics, Molecular Epigenetics Group, Life Sciences Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada.
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40
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Abstract
DNA methylation at the 5-position of cytosine (5mC) plays vital roles in mammalian development. DNA methylation is catalyzed by DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs), and the two DNMT families, DNMT3 and DNMT1, are responsible for methylation establishment and maintenance, respectively. Since their discovery, biochemical and structural studies have revealed the key mechanisms underlying how DNMTs catalyze de novo and maintenance DNA methylation. In particular, recent development of low-input genomic and epigenomic technologies has deepened our understanding of DNA methylation regulation in germ lines and early stage embryos. In this review, we first describe the methylation machinery including the DNMTs and their essential cofactors. We then discuss how DNMTs are recruited to or excluded from certain genomic elements. Lastly, we summarize recent understanding of the regulation of DNA methylation dynamics in mammalian germ lines and early embryos with a focus on both mice and humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhiyuan Chen
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA; , .,Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.,Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
| | - Yi Zhang
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA; , .,Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.,Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.,Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.,Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
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41
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Farhadova S, Gomez-Velazquez M, Feil R. Stability and Lability of Parental Methylation Imprints in Development and Disease. Genes (Basel) 2019; 10:genes10120999. [PMID: 31810366 PMCID: PMC6947649 DOI: 10.3390/genes10120999] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2019] [Revised: 11/25/2019] [Accepted: 11/27/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
DNA methylation plays essential roles in mammals. Of particular interest are parental methylation marks that originate from the oocyte or the sperm, and bring about mono-allelic gene expression at defined chromosomal regions. The remarkable somatic stability of these parental imprints in the pre-implantation embryo—where they resist global waves of DNA demethylation—is not fully understood despite the importance of this phenomenon. After implantation, some methylation imprints persist in the placenta only, a tissue in which many genes are imprinted. Again here, the underlying epigenetic mechanisms are not clear. Mouse studies have pinpointed the involvement of transcription factors, covalent histone modifications, and histone variants. These and other features linked to the stability of methylation imprints are instructive as concerns their conservation in humans, in which different congenital disorders are caused by perturbed parental imprints. Here, we discuss DNA and histone methylation imprints, and why unravelling maintenance mechanisms is important for understanding imprinting disorders in humans.
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42
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Hemberger M, Hanna CW, Dean W. Mechanisms of early placental development in mouse and humans. Nat Rev Genet 2019; 21:27-43. [PMID: 31534202 DOI: 10.1038/s41576-019-0169-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 249] [Impact Index Per Article: 49.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/09/2019] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
The importance of the placenta in supporting mammalian development has long been recognized, but our knowledge of the molecular, genetic and epigenetic requirements that underpin normal placentation has remained remarkably under-appreciated. Both the in vivo mouse model and in vitro-derived murine trophoblast stem cells have been invaluable research tools for gaining insights into these aspects of placental development and function, with recent studies starting to reshape our view of how a unique epigenetic environment contributes to trophoblast differentiation and placenta formation. These advances, together with recent successes in deriving human trophoblast stem cells, open up new and exciting prospects in basic and clinical settings that will help deepen our understanding of placental development and associated disorders of pregnancy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Myriam Hemberger
- Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada. .,Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada. .,Department of Medical Genetics, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada. .,Epigenetics Programme, The Babraham Institute, Babraham Research Campus, Cambridge, UK. .,Centre for Trophoblast Research, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
| | - Courtney W Hanna
- Epigenetics Programme, The Babraham Institute, Babraham Research Campus, Cambridge, UK.,Centre for Trophoblast Research, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Wendy Dean
- Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada. .,Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada. .,Epigenetics Programme, The Babraham Institute, Babraham Research Campus, Cambridge, UK. .,Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada.
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43
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The diverse roles of DNA methylation in mammalian development and disease. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 2019; 20:590-607. [PMID: 31399642 DOI: 10.1038/s41580-019-0159-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1144] [Impact Index Per Article: 228.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/08/2019] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
DNA methylation is of paramount importance for mammalian embryonic development. DNA methylation has numerous functions: it is implicated in the repression of transposons and genes, but is also associated with actively transcribed gene bodies and, in some cases, with gene activation per se. In recent years, sensitive technologies have been developed that allow the interrogation of DNA methylation patterns from a small number of cells. The use of these technologies has greatly improved our knowledge of DNA methylation dynamics and heterogeneity in embryos and in specific tissues. Combined with genetic analyses, it is increasingly apparent that regulation of DNA methylation erasure and (re-)establishment varies considerably between different developmental stages. In this Review, we discuss the mechanisms and functions of DNA methylation and demethylation in both mice and humans at CpG-rich promoters, gene bodies and transposable elements. We highlight the dynamic erasure and re-establishment of DNA methylation in embryonic, germline and somatic cell development. Finally, we provide insights into DNA methylation gained from studying genetic diseases.
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44
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Savage P, Monk D, Hernandez Mora JR, van der Westhuizen N, Rauw J, Tinker A, Robinson W, Song Q, Seckl MJ, Fisher RA. A case of intraplacental gestational choriocarcinoma; characterised by the methylation pattern of the early placenta and an absence of driver mutations. BMC Cancer 2019; 19:744. [PMID: 31357948 PMCID: PMC6664587 DOI: 10.1186/s12885-019-5906-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2019] [Accepted: 07/04/2019] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Gestational choriocarcinoma is a rare malignancy believed to arise from the trophoblast cells of the placenta. Despite the frequently aggressive clinical nature, choriocarcinoma has been routinely curable with cytotoxic chemotherapy for over 50 years. To date little is known regarding the route to oncogenesis in this malignancy. Methods In a case of intraplacental choriocarcinoma, we have performed detailed genetic studies including microsatellite analysis, whole genome sequencing (WGS) and methylation analysis of the tumour and surrounding mature placenta. Results The results of the WGS sequencing indicated a very low level of mutation and the absence of any driver mutations or oncogene activity in the tumour. The methylation analysis identified a distinctly different profile in the tumour from that of the mature placenta. Comparison with a panel of reference methylation profiles from different stages of placental development indicated that the tumour segregated with the first trimester samples. Conclusions These findings suggest that gestational choriocarcinoma is likely to arise as a result of aberrations of methylation during development, rather than from DNA mutations. The results support the hypothesis that gestational choriocarcinoma arises from a normally transient early trophoblast cell. At this point in development this cell naturally has a phenotype of rapid division, tissue invasion and sensitivity to DNA damaging chemotherapy that is very similar to that of the mature choriocarcinoma cell. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12885-019-5906-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philip Savage
- Trophoblastic Tumour Screening & Treatment Centre, Charing Cross Hospital Campus of Imperial College, London, UK. .,BCCA, Victoria, BC, Canada.
| | - David Monk
- Imprinting and Cancer Group, Cancer Epigenetic and Biology Program (PEBC), Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Jose R Hernandez Mora
- Imprinting and Cancer Group, Cancer Epigenetic and Biology Program (PEBC), Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain
| | | | | | | | - Wendy Robinson
- Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Qianqian Song
- State Key Lab of Molecular Oncology, Laboratory of Cell and Molecular Biology, National Cancer Center, Beijing, China
| | - Michael J Seckl
- Trophoblastic Tumour Screening & Treatment Centre, Charing Cross Hospital Campus of Imperial College, London, UK
| | - Rosemary A Fisher
- Trophoblastic Tumour Screening & Treatment Centre, Charing Cross Hospital Campus of Imperial College, London, UK.,Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College , London, UK
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45
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Genomic imprinting disorders: lessons on how genome, epigenome and environment interact. Nat Rev Genet 2019; 20:235-248. [PMID: 30647469 DOI: 10.1038/s41576-018-0092-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 219] [Impact Index Per Article: 43.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Genomic imprinting, the monoallelic and parent-of-origin-dependent expression of a subset of genes, is required for normal development, and its disruption leads to human disease. Imprinting defects can involve isolated or multilocus epigenetic changes that may have no evident genetic cause, or imprinting disruption can be traced back to alterations of cis-acting elements or trans-acting factors that control the establishment, maintenance and erasure of germline epigenetic imprints. Recent insights into the dynamics of the epigenome, including the effect of environmental factors, suggest that the developmental outcomes and heritability of imprinting disorders are influenced by interactions between the genome, the epigenome and the environment in germ cells and early embryos.
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46
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Pilvar D, Reiman M, Pilvar A, Laan M. Parent-of-origin-specific allelic expression in the human placenta is limited to established imprinted loci and it is stably maintained across pregnancy. Clin Epigenetics 2019; 11:94. [PMID: 31242935 PMCID: PMC6595585 DOI: 10.1186/s13148-019-0692-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2019] [Accepted: 06/06/2019] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Genomic imprinting, mediated by parent-of-origin-specific epigenetic silencing, adjusts the gene expression dosage in mammals. We aimed to clarify parental allelic expression in the human placenta for 396 claimed candidate imprinted genes and to assess the evidence for the proposed enrichment of imprinted expression in the placenta. The study utilized RNA-Seq-based transcriptome and genotyping data from 54 parental-placental samples representing the three trimesters of gestation, and term cases of preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, and fetal growth disturbances. Results Almost half of the targeted genes (n = 179; 45%) were either not transcribed or showed limited expression in the human placenta. After filtering for the presence of common exonic SNPs, adequacy of sequencing reads and informative families, 91 genes were retained (43 loci form Geneimprint database; 48 recently proposed genes). Only 11/91 genes (12.1%) showed confident signals of imprinting (binomial test, Bonferroni corrected P < 0.05; > 90% transcripts originating from one parental allele). The confirmed imprinted genes exhibit enriched placental expression (PHLDA2, H19, IGF2, MEST, ZFAT, PLAGL1, AIM1) or are transcribed additionally only in the adrenal gland (MEG3, RTL1, PEG10, DLK1). Parental monoallelic expression showed extreme stability across gestation and in term pregnancy complications. A distinct group of additional 14 genes exhibited a statistically significant bias in parental allelic proportions defined as having 65–90% of reads from one parental allele (e.g., KLHDC10, NLRP2, RHOBTB3, DNMT1). Molecular mechanisms behind biased parental expression are still to be clarified. However, 66 of 91 (72.5%) analyzed candidate imprinted genes showed no signals of deviation from biallelic expression. Conclusions As placental tissue is not included in The Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) project, the study contributed to fill the gap in the knowledge concerning parental allelic expression. A catalog of parental allelic proportions and gene expression of analyzed loci across human gestation and in term pregnancy complications is provided as additional files. The study outcome suggested that true imprinting in the human placenta is restricted to well-characterized loci. High expression of imprinted genes during mid-pregnancy supports their critical role in developmental programming. Consistent with the data on other GTEx tissues, the number of human imprinted genes appears to be overestimated. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13148-019-0692-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diana Pilvar
- Institute of Biomedicine and Translational Medicine, University of Tartu, Ravila Str, 19 50411, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Mario Reiman
- Institute of Biomedicine and Translational Medicine, University of Tartu, Ravila Str, 19 50411, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Arno Pilvar
- Veeuss OÜ, Jaama tn 185-49, 50705, Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Maris Laan
- Institute of Biomedicine and Translational Medicine, University of Tartu, Ravila Str, 19 50411, Tartu, Estonia.
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Jadhav B, Monajemi R, Gagalova KK, Ho D, Draisma HHM, van de Wiel MA, Franke L, Heijmans BT, van Meurs J, Jansen R, 't Hoen PAC, Sharp AJ, Kiełbasa SM. RNA-Seq in 296 phased trios provides a high-resolution map of genomic imprinting. BMC Biol 2019; 17:50. [PMID: 31234833 PMCID: PMC6589892 DOI: 10.1186/s12915-019-0674-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2018] [Accepted: 06/07/2019] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Identification of imprinted genes, demonstrating a consistent preference towards the paternal or maternal allelic expression, is important for the understanding of gene expression regulation during embryonic development and of the molecular basis of developmental disorders with a parent-of-origin effect. Combining allelic analysis of RNA-Seq data with phased genotypes in family trios provides a powerful method to detect parent-of-origin biases in gene expression. Results We report findings in 296 family trios from two large studies: 165 lymphoblastoid cell lines from the 1000 Genomes Project and 131 blood samples from the Genome of the Netherlands (GoNL) participants. Based on parental haplotypes, we identified > 2.8 million transcribed heterozygous SNVs phased for parental origin and developed a robust statistical framework for measuring allelic expression. We identified a total of 45 imprinted genes and one imprinted unannotated transcript, including multiple imprinted transcripts showing incomplete parental expression bias that was located adjacent to strongly imprinted genes. For example, PXDC1, a gene which lies adjacent to the paternally expressed gene FAM50B, shows a 2:1 paternal expression bias. Other imprinted genes had promoter regions that coincide with sites of parentally biased DNA methylation identified in the blood from uniparental disomy (UPD) samples, thus providing independent validation of our results. Using the stranded nature of the RNA-Seq data in lymphoblastoid cell lines, we identified multiple loci with overlapping sense/antisense transcripts, of which one is expressed paternally and the other maternally. Using a sliding window approach, we searched for imprinted expression across the entire genome, identifying a novel imprinted putative lncRNA in 13q21.2. Overall, we identified 7 transcripts showing parental bias in gene expression which were not reported in 4 other recent RNA-Seq studies of imprinting. Conclusions Our methods and data provide a robust and high-resolution map of imprinted gene expression in the human genome. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12915-019-0674-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bharati Jadhav
- Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Hess Center for Science and Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, 1470 Madison Avenue, Room 8-116, Box 1498, New York, NY, 10029, USA
| | - Ramin Monajemi
- Department of Biomedical Data Sciences, Leiden University Medical Center, Einthovenweg 20, 2333 ZC, Leiden, the Netherlands.
| | | | - Daniel Ho
- Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Hess Center for Science and Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, 1470 Madison Avenue, Room 8-116, Box 1498, New York, NY, 10029, USA
| | - Harmen H M Draisma
- Department of Biomedical Data Sciences, Leiden University Medical Center, Einthovenweg 20, 2333 ZC, Leiden, the Netherlands.,Department of Human Genetics, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Mark A van de Wiel
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Lude Franke
- Department of Genetics, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands
| | - Bastiaan T Heijmans
- Department of Biomedical Data Sciences, Leiden University Medical Center, Einthovenweg 20, 2333 ZC, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Joyce van Meurs
- Department of Internal Medicine, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Rick Jansen
- Department of Psychiatry, VU University Medical Center, Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | | | | | - Peter A C 't Hoen
- Department of Human Genetics, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands.,Centre for Molecular and Biomolecular Informatics, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Andrew J Sharp
- Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Hess Center for Science and Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, 1470 Madison Avenue, Room 8-116, Box 1498, New York, NY, 10029, USA.
| | - Szymon M Kiełbasa
- Department of Biomedical Data Sciences, Leiden University Medical Center, Einthovenweg 20, 2333 ZC, Leiden, the Netherlands.
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48
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Schulze KV, Szafranski P, Lesmana H, Hopkin RJ, Hamvas A, Wambach JA, Shinawi M, Zapata G, Carvalho CMB, Liu Q, Karolak JA, Lupski JR, Hanchard NA, Stankiewicz P. Novel parent-of-origin-specific differentially methylated loci on chromosome 16. Clin Epigenetics 2019; 11:60. [PMID: 30961659 PMCID: PMC6454695 DOI: 10.1186/s13148-019-0655-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2019] [Accepted: 03/13/2019] [Indexed: 03/20/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Congenital malformations associated with maternal uniparental disomy of chromosome 16, upd(16)mat, resemble those observed in newborns with the lethal developmental lung disease, alveolar capillary dysplasia with misalignment of pulmonary veins (ACDMPV). Interestingly, ACDMPV-causative deletions, involving FOXF1 or its lung-specific upstream enhancer at 16q24.1, arise almost exclusively on the maternally inherited chromosome 16. Given the phenotypic similarities between upd(16)mat and ACDMPV, together with parental allelic bias in ACDMPV, we hypothesized that there may be unknown imprinted loci mapping to chromosome 16 that become functionally unmasked by chromosomal structural variants. RESULTS To identify parent-of-origin biased DNA methylation, we performed high-resolution bisulfite sequencing of chromosome 16 on peripheral blood and cultured skin fibroblasts from individuals with maternal or paternal upd(16) as well as lung tissue from patients with ACDMPV-causative 16q24.1 deletions and a normal control. We identified 22 differentially methylated regions (DMRs) with ≥ 5 consecutive CpG methylation sites and varying tissue-specificity, including the known DMRs associated with the established imprinted gene ZNF597 and DMRs supporting maternal methylation of PRR25, thought to be paternally expressed in lymphoblastoid cells. Lastly, we found evidence of paternal methylation on 16q24.1 near LINC01082 mapping to the FOXF1 enhancer. CONCLUSIONS Using high-resolution bisulfite sequencing to evaluate DNA methylation across chromosome 16, we found evidence for novel candidate imprinted loci on chromosome 16 that would not be evident in array-based assays and could contribute to the birth defects observed in patients with upd(16)mat or in ACDMPV.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katharina V Schulze
- Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Przemyslaw Szafranski
- Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Harry Lesmana
- Division of Human Genetics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA
| | - Robert J Hopkin
- Division of Human Genetics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA
| | - Aaron Hamvas
- Pediatrics, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Jennifer A Wambach
- Division of Newborn Medicine, Edward Mallinckrodt Department of Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Marwan Shinawi
- Division of Genetics and Genomic Medicine, Edward Mallinckrodt Department of Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Gladys Zapata
- Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Claudia M B Carvalho
- Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Qian Liu
- Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Justyna A Karolak
- Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - James R Lupski
- Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
- Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Neil A Hanchard
- Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
- USDA/ARS/Children's Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
| | - Paweł Stankiewicz
- Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
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49
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Zhang W, Chen Z, Yin Q, Zhang D, Racowsky C, Zhang Y. Maternal-biased H3K27me3 correlates with paternal-specific gene expression in the human morula. Genes Dev 2019; 33:382-387. [PMID: 30808660 PMCID: PMC6446541 DOI: 10.1101/gad.323105.118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2018] [Accepted: 01/18/2019] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
In this study from Zhang et al., the authors found that H3K27me3 is strongly biased toward the maternal allele with some associated with DNA methylation–independent paternally expressed genes (PEGs) in human morulae. Their findings uncover the H3K27me3 landscape and establish a correlation between maternal-biased H3K27me3 and PEGs in human morulae. Genomic imprinting is an epigenetic mechanism by which genes are expressed in a parental origin–dependent manner. We recently discovered that, like DNA methylation, oocyte-inherited H3K27me3 can also serve as an imprinting mark in mouse preimplantation embryos. In this study, we found H3K27me3 is strongly biased toward the maternal allele with some associated with DNA methylation–independent paternally expressed genes (PEGs) in human morulae. The H3K27me3 domains largely overlap with DNA partially methylated domains (PMDs) and occupy developmental gene promoters. Thus, our study not only reveals the H3K27me3 landscape but also establishes a correlation between maternal-biased H3K27me3 and PEGs in human morulae.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenhao Zhang
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.,Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.,Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
| | - Zhiyuan Chen
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.,Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.,Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
| | - Qiangzong Yin
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.,Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.,Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
| | - Dan Zhang
- Center for Infertility and Reproductive Surgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.,Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.,Key Laboratory of Reproductive Genetics (Ministry of Education) and Department of Reproductive Endocrinology, Women's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310006, P.R. China
| | - Catherine Racowsky
- Center for Infertility and Reproductive Surgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.,Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
| | - Yi Zhang
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.,Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.,Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.,Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.,Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
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50
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Monteagudo-Sánchez A, Sánchez-Delgado M, Mora JRH, Santamaría NT, Gratacós E, Esteller M, de Heredia ML, Nunes V, Choux C, Fauque P, de Nanclares GP, Anton L, Elovitz MA, Iglesias-Platas I, Monk D. Differences in expression rather than methylation at placenta-specific imprinted loci is associated with intrauterine growth restriction. Clin Epigenetics 2019; 11:35. [PMID: 30808399 PMCID: PMC6390544 DOI: 10.1186/s13148-019-0630-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2018] [Accepted: 02/08/2019] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Genome-wide studies have begun to link subtle variations in both allelic DNA methylation and parent-of-origin genetic effects with early development. Numerous reports have highlighted that the placenta plays a critical role in coordinating fetal growth, with many key functions regulated by genomic imprinting. With the recent description of wide-spread polymorphic placenta-specific imprinting, the molecular mechanisms leading to this curious polymorphic epigenetic phenomenon is unknown, as is their involvement in pregnancies complications. RESULTS Profiling of 35 ubiquitous and 112 placenta-specific imprinted differentially methylated regions (DMRs) using high-density methylation arrays and pyrosequencing revealed isolated aberrant methylation at ubiquitous DMRs as well as abundant hypomethylation at placenta-specific DMRs. Analysis of the underlying chromatin state revealed that the polymorphic nature is not only evident at the level of allelic methylation, but DMRs can also adopt an unusual epigenetic signature where the underlying histones are biallelically enrichment of H3K4 methylation, a modification normally mutually exclusive with DNA methylation. Quantitative expression analysis in placenta identified two genes, GPR1-AS1 and ZDBF2, that were differentially expressed between IUGRs and control samples after adjusting for clinical factors, revealing coordinated deregulation at the chromosome 2q33 imprinted locus. CONCLUSIONS DNA methylation is less stable at placenta-specific imprinted DMRs compared to ubiquitous DMRs and contributes to privileged state of the placenta epigenome. IUGR-associated expression differences were identified for several imprinted transcripts independent of allelic methylation. Further work is required to determine if these differences are the cause IUGR or reflect unique adaption by the placenta to developmental stresses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Monteagudo-Sánchez
- Imprinting and Cancer Group, Cancer Epigenetics and Biology Program, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute - IDIBELL, Av. Gran Via de L'Hospotalet 199-203, 08907 L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Marta Sánchez-Delgado
- Imprinting and Cancer Group, Cancer Epigenetics and Biology Program, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute - IDIBELL, Av. Gran Via de L'Hospotalet 199-203, 08907 L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Jose Ramon Hernandez Mora
- Imprinting and Cancer Group, Cancer Epigenetics and Biology Program, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute - IDIBELL, Av. Gran Via de L'Hospotalet 199-203, 08907 L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Nuria Tubío Santamaría
- Imprinting and Cancer Group, Cancer Epigenetics and Biology Program, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute - IDIBELL, Av. Gran Via de L'Hospotalet 199-203, 08907 L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain.,Leibniz Institute on Aging, Jena, Germany
| | - Eduard Gratacós
- Fetal I+D Fetal Medicine Research Center, BCNatal - Barcelona Center for Maternal-Fetal and Neonatal Medicine, Hospital Clínic and Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Manel Esteller
- Cancer Epigenetics group, Cancer Epigenetics and Biology Program, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute - IDIBELL, Gran via, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain.,Department of Physiological Sciences II, School of Medicine, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.,Institucio Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Miguel López de Heredia
- Human Molecular Genetics group, Genes, disease and Therapy Program, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute - IDIBELL, Av. Gran Via de L'Hospitalet 199-203, 08907, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Virgina Nunes
- Department of Physiological Sciences II, School of Medicine, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.,Human Molecular Genetics group, Genes, disease and Therapy Program, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute - IDIBELL, Av. Gran Via de L'Hospitalet 199-203, 08907, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain.,Centro de Investigaciòn Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER), Madrid, Spain
| | - Cecile Choux
- Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté - INSERM UMR1231, F-21000, Dijon, France
| | - Patricia Fauque
- Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté - INSERM UMR1231, F-21000, Dijon, France
| | - Guiomar Perez de Nanclares
- (Epi) Genetics Laboratory, BioAraba National Health Institute, Hospital Universitario Araba-Txagorritxu, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Alava, Spain
| | - Lauren Anton
- Maternal and Child Health Research Program, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Center for Research on Reproduction and Women's Health, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA
| | - Michal A Elovitz
- Maternal and Child Health Research Program, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Center for Research on Reproduction and Women's Health, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA
| | - Isabel Iglesias-Platas
- GReN (Grup de Reçerca en Neonatologia), BCNatal - Barcelona Center for Maternal-Fetal and Neonatal Medicine, Institut de Reçerca Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain
| | - David Monk
- Imprinting and Cancer Group, Cancer Epigenetics and Biology Program, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute - IDIBELL, Av. Gran Via de L'Hospotalet 199-203, 08907 L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain.
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