Deshpande Sharvari S, Balasinor Nafisa H
1 Department of Neuroendocrinology, National Institute for Research in Reproductive Health (ICMR), Parel, Mumbai, India.
Reprod Sci. 2018 Aug;25(8):1143-1160. doi: 10.1177/1933719118766265. Epub 2018 Apr 11.
Placenta, the first organ to be formed during gestation, plays a crucial role in intrauterine regulation of fetal growth and is involved in several functions during fetal development such as exchange of nutrients, wastes, and gases; protection against maternal immune rejection; and various metabolic and endocrine functions. Several studies have shown the regulation of epigenetic factors and the phenomenon of genomic imprinting in placentation and embryogenesis. Any gain or loss of imprint marks in the placenta has been shown to associate with severe placental defects which in turn affect both the mother and the growing fetus and can have long-term effects during adulthood. Using candidate and genome-wide high throughput approaches, several studies have shown association between aberrant epigenetic factors in the form of DNA methylation, histone modifications, and non-coding RNAs and placental defects in both human and animal models as well as using in vitro studies. In the current review, we discuss several placenta-related pathophysiologies and their association with various aberrant epigenetic factors and gene expression patterns in both in vivo and in vitro systems. This review will help the researchers gain insight into the recent evidences in the area of placentation and epigenetics and to design novel strategies to study and prevent the defects in this underestimated organ.
胎盘是妊娠期形成的首个器官，在子宫内对胎儿生长的调节中起着关键作用，并且在胎儿发育过程中参与多种功能，如营养物质、废物和气体的交换；防止母体免疫排斥；以及各种代谢和内分泌功能。多项研究表明，表观遗传因子在胎盘形成和胚胎发生过程中存在调控作用以及基因组印记现象。胎盘中印迹标记的任何增减都已被证明与严重的胎盘缺陷有关，而这反过来又会影响母亲和发育中的胎儿，并可能在成年期产生长期影响。通过候选基因和全基因组高通量方法，多项研究表明，在人类和动物模型以及体外研究中，DNA甲基化、组蛋白修饰和非编码RNA等异常表观遗传因子与胎盘缺陷之间存在关联。在本综述中，我们讨论了几种与胎盘相关的病理生理学及其在体内和体外系统中与各种异常表观遗传因子和基因表达模式的关联。这篇综述将有助于研究人员深入了解胎盘形成和表观遗传学领域的最新证据，并设计新的策略来研究和预防这个被低估器官中的缺陷。
