title: Gene expression profiling of pre-eclamptic placentae by RNA sequencing.
abstract: Pre-eclampsia is a common and complex pregnancy disorder that often involves impaired placental development. In order to identify altered gene expression in pre-eclamptic placenta, we sequenced placental transcriptomes of nine pre-eclamptic and nine healthy pregnant women in pools of three. The differential gene expression was tested both by including all the pools in the analysis and by excluding some of the pools based on phenotypic characteristics. From these analyses, we identified altogether 53 differently expressed genes, a subset of which was validated by qPCR in 20 cases and 19 controls. Furthermore, we conducted pathway and functional analyses which revealed disturbed vascular function and immunological balance in pre-eclamptic placenta. Some of the genes identified in our study have been reported by numerous microarray studies (BHLHE40, FSTL3, HK2, HTRA4, LEP, PVRL4, SASH1, SIGLEC6), but many have been implicated in only few studies or have not previously been linked to pre-eclampsia (ARMS2, BTNL9, CCSAP, DIO2, FER1L4, HPSE, LOC100129345, LYN, MYO7B, NCMAP, NDRG1, NRIP1, PLIN2, SBSPON, SERPINB9, SH3BP5, TET3, TPBG, ZNF175). Several of the molecules produced by these genes may have a role in the pathogenesis of pre-eclampsia, and some could qualify as biomarkers for prediction or detection of this pregnancy complication.
authors.affiliation: Medical and Clinical Genetics, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, FI-00014, Finland.
authors.forename: Tea
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kaartokallio
authors.affiliation: Research Programs Unit, Genome-Scale Biology and Institute of Biomedicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, FI-00014, Finland.
authors.forename: Alejandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cervera
authors.affiliation: Medical and Clinical Genetics, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, FI-00014, Finland.
authors.forename: Anjuska
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kyllönen
authors.affiliation: Medical and Clinical Genetics, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, FI-00014, Finland.|Molecular Neurology Research Program, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, FI-00014, Finland.|Folkhälsan Institute of Genetics, Helsinki, FI-000290, Finland.
authors.forename: Krista
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Laivuori
authors.affiliation: Molecular Neurology Research Program, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, FI-00014, Finland.|Folkhälsan Institute of Genetics, Helsinki, FI-000290, Finland.|Department of Biosciences and Nutrition, Center for Innovative Medicine, and Science for Life Laboratory, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Juha
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kere
authors.affiliation: Medical and Clinical Genetics, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, FI-00014, Finland.|Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, FI-00014, Finland.|Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, FI-00014, Finland.
authors.forename: Hannele
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Laivuori
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001483:Base Sequence; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006801:Humans; D046228:Microarray Analysis; D010920:Placenta / Q000473:pathology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011225:Pre-Eclampsia / Q000235:genetics*; D011247:Pregnancy; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics*; D017423:Sequence Analysis, RNA; D059467:Transcriptome / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D012333:RNA, Messenger