Influence of antenatal glucocorticoid on preterm lamb diaphragm

Genetics, epigenetics, and transcriptomics of preterm birth

Preterm birth contributes significantly to neonatal mortality and morbidity. Despite its global significance, there has only been limited progress in preventing preterm birth. Spontaneous preterm birth (sPTB) results from a wide variety of pathological processes. Although many non-genetic risk factors influence the timing of gestation and labor, compelling evidence supports the role of substantial genetic and epigenetic influences and their interactions with the environment contributing to sPTB. To investigate a common and complex disease such as sPTB, various approaches such as genome-wide association studies, whole-exome sequencing, transcriptomics, and integrative approaches combining these with other 'omics studies have been used. However, many of these studies were typically small or focused on a single ethnicity or geographic region with limited data, particularly in populations at high risk for sPTB, or lacked a robust replication. These studies found many genes involved in the inflammation and immunity-related pathways that may affect sPTB. Recent studies also suggest the role of epigenetic modifications of gene expression by the environmental signals as a potential contributor to the risk of sPTB. Future genetic studies of sPTB should continue to consider the contributions of both maternal and fetal genomes as well as their interaction with the environment.

Network analysis reveals important genes in human placenta

AIM

To determine which genes are important in placenta by network analysis.

METHODS

Placenta expressing genes were screened from RNA-Seq data. Protein-protein interaction data were downloaded from STRING (v11.0) database. Google PageRank (PR) algorithm was used to identify important placental genes from protein interaction network. Six placental disease-related datasets were downloaded from NCBI GEO database, and the differential expression of the 99 genes was identified.

RESULTS

We calculated PR for each placenta expressing gene and defined the top 99 genes with high PR as important genes. GAPDH has the highest PR. The 99 genes had different expression pattern in placental cell types. FN1 is up-regulated in 8 w EVT compared to 8 w CTB and 24 w EVT compared to 8 w EVT. HSPA4 is down-regulated in 8 w EVT compared to 8 w CTB and 24 w EVT compared to 8 w EVT. MIB2, TLR4, and UBB are consistently changed in preeclampsia (PE). UBB and ACTG1 were identified to be down-regulated in fetal growth restriction (FGR). SOD1 is down-regulated in preterm birth placenta.

CONCLUSION

Our findings confirmed that the importance of these genes in placenta-related diseases, and provide new candidates (MIB2, UBB, ACTG1, and SOD1) for placenta-related disease diagnosis and treatment.