In vitro fertilization and embryo culture strongly impact the placental transcriptome in the mouse model.
BACKGROUND
Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) are increasingly used in humans; however, their impact is now questioned. At blastocyst stage, the trophectoderm is directly in contact with an artificial medium environment, which can impact placental development. This study was designed to carry out an in-depth analysis of the placental transcriptome after ART in mice.


RESULTS
Blastocysts were transferred either (1) after in vivo fertilization and development (control group) or (2) after in vitro fertilization and embryo culture. Placentas were then analyzed at E10.5. Six percent of transcripts were altered at the two-fold threshold in placentas of manipulated embryos, 2/3 of transcripts being down-regulated. Strikingly, the X-chromosome harbors 11% of altered genes, 2/3 being induced. Imprinted genes were modified similarly to the X. Promoter composition analysis indicates that FOXA transcription factors may be involved in the transcriptional deregulations.


CONCLUSIONS
For the first time, our study shows that in vitro fertilization associated with embryo culture strongly modify the placental expression profile, long after embryo manipulations, meaning that the stress of artificial environment is memorized after implantation. Expression of X and imprinted genes is also greatly modulated probably to adapt to adverse conditions. Our results highlight the importance of studying human placentas from ART.
Fauque
Patricia
P
Service d'Histologie-Embryologie, Biologie de la Reproduction, Hôpital Cochin, Paris, France. patricia.fauque@cch.aphp.fr
Mondon
Françoise
F
Letourneur
Franck
F
Ripoche
Marie-Anne
MA
Journot
Laurent
L
Barbaux
Sandrine
S
Dandolo
Luisa
L
Patrat
Catherine
C
Wolf
Jean-Philippe
JP
Jouannet
Pierre
P
Jammes
Hélène
H
Vaiman
Daniel
D
D000818:Animals; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D046149:Embryo Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro / Q000379:methods*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008808:Mice, Inbred CBA; D023421:Models, Animal; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D010920:Placenta / Q000378:metabolism*; D011247:Pregnancy; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction