title: In vitro fertilization and embryo culture strongly impact the placental transcriptome in the mouse model.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Service d'Histologie-Embryologie, Biologie de la Reproduction, Hôpital Cochin, Paris, France. patricia.fauque@cch.aphp.fr
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fauque
authors.forename: Françoise
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mondon
authors.forename: Franck
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Letourneur
authors.forename: Marie-Anne
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Ripoche
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Journot
authors.forename: Sandrine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Barbaux
authors.forename: Luisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dandolo
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Patrat
authors.forename: Jean-Philippe
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Wolf
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jouannet
authors.forename: Hélène
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jammes
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Vaiman
mesh_terms: 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