Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Placenta. 2011 Mar;32 Suppl 2:S136-41. doi: 10.1016/j.placenta.2011.01.003. Epub 2011 Feb 1.
Genetic and epigenetic studies of the human placenta can help to clarify the underlying mechanisms of placenta-associated diseases. However, such studies have also revealed a considerable degree of within- and between-placenta variability, which can be attributed to a variety of influences. We illustrate the inherent heterogeneity in the placenta using examples from two types of studies: 1) chromosomal mosaicism and 2) DNA methylation variation. We discuss the factors that may influence the distribution of variation and how, understanding the source of this variation is important for interpreting data used to investigate and predict clinical outcomes.
对人类胎盘的遗传和表观遗传研究有助于阐明与胎盘相关疾病的潜在机制。然而，这些研究也揭示了胎盘内和胎盘间相当大程度的可变性，这种可变性可归因于多种影响。我们通过两种类型的研究示例来说明胎盘固有的异质性：1）染色体镶嵌和 2）DNA 甲基化变异。我们讨论了可能影响变异分布的因素，以及了解这种变异的来源对于解释用于研究和预测临床结果的数据是重要的。
