title: Differential placental gene expression in term pregnancies affected by fetal growth restriction and macrosomia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Extremes of fetal growth are associated with increased perinatal mortality and morbidity and a higher prevalence of cardiovascular disease, obesity and diabetes in later life. We aimed to identify changes in placental gene expression in pregnancies with evidence of growth dysfunction and candidate genes that may be used to identify abnormal patterns of growth prior to delivery.
  
  
  METHODS
  Growth-restricted (n = 4), macrosomic (n = 6) and normal term (n = 5) placentas were selected from a banked series (n = 200) collected immediately after caesarean section. RNA was extracted prior to microarray analysis using Affymetrix HG-U219 arrays to determine variation in gene expression. Genes of interest were confirmed using qRT-PCR.
  
  
  RESULTS
  338 genes in the growth-restricted and 41 genes in the macrosomic group were identified to be significantly dysregulated (>2-fold change; p < 0.05). CPXM2 and CLDN1 were upregulated and TXNDC5 and LRP2 downregulated in fetal growth restriction. In macrosomia, PHLDB2 and CLDN1 were upregulated and LEP and GCH1 were downregulated.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Dysfunctional growth is associated with differential placental gene expression and affects genes with a whole spectrum of developmental and cellular functions. Better elucidation of these pathways may allow the development of biomarkers to identify growth abnormalities and effective prenatal intervention.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Neonatology, Queen Elizabeth II Research Institute for Mothers and Infants, The University of Sydney, Sydney, N.S.W., Australia.
authors.forename: Amin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sabri
authors.forename: Donna
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.forename: Arlene
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: D'Silva
authors.forename: Sean
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Seeho
authors.forename: Jasjot
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kaur
authors.forename: Cecilia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.forename: Jon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hyett
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005317:Fetal Growth Retardation / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D005320:Fetal Macrosomia / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D006801:Humans; D010920:Placenta / Q000378:metabolism*; D011247:Pregnancy