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The effects of Assisted Reproductive Technologies on genomic imprinting in the placenta

Eric A Rhon-Calderon1, Lisa A Vrooman1, Laren Riesche2

  • 1Epigenetics Institute, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Smilow Center for Translational Research, 3400 Civic Center Blvd, Bldg 421, Philadelphia, PA, 19104-6058, USA.

Placenta
|March 16, 2019
PubMed

The placenta is a complex and poorly understood organ, which serves as the connection between the mother and the developing fetus. Genomic imprinting, defined as a regulatory process resulting in the expression of a gene in a parent-of-origin-specific manner, plays an important role in fetal development and placental function. Disturbances that occur during the establishment and maintenance of imprinting could compromise the placenta and fetus, and ultimately, offspring health. Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) have been widely used to overcome infertility, however experimental studies have shown that ART procedures affect placentation and the expression of imprinted genes. Here we briefly review the role of imprinted genes in placental development and the evidence from mouse and human studies suggesting ART disrupts imprinted gene regulation in the placenta.

Keywords:
Assisted reproductive technologiesImprinted genesIn vitro fertilizationPlacenta

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