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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Little Rock, Arkansas » Microbiome and Metabolism Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #308066
Title: A comprehensive analysis of the human placenta transcriptome

Author
item SABEN, JESSICA - University Arkansas For Medical Sciences (UAMS)
item ZHONG, YING - University Arkansas For Medical Sciences (UAMS)
item MCKELVEY, SAMANTHA - University Arkansas For Medical Sciences (UAMS)
item DAJANI, NAFISA - University Arkansas For Medical Sciences (UAMS)
item ANDRES, ALINE - University Arkansas For Medical Sciences (UAMS)
item BADGER, THOMAS - University Arkansas For Medical Sciences (UAMS)
item GOMEZ-ACEVEDO, HORACIO - University Arkansas For Medical Sciences (UAMS)
item SHANKAR, KARTIK - University Arkansas For Medical Sciences (UAMS)

Submitted to: Placenta
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/14/2013
Publication Date: 2/1/2014
Citation: Saben, J., Zhong, Y., McKelvey, S., Dajani, N., Andres, A., Badger, T., Gomez-Acevedo, H., Shankar, K. 2014. A comprehensive analysis of the human placenta transcriptome. Placenta. 35(2):125-131.

Interpretive Summary: The placenta is a specialized temporary fetal organ that is requisite for fetal growth and is crucial for a successful pregnancy. Defining placenta specific gene expression can contribute to the understanding of placenta development and function. Using a powerful cutting-edge methodology, called RNA-seq this study characterized the landscape of gene expression in term placenta from healthy women. Analysis of 20 biologically distinct placenta samples allowed discovery of new genes uniquely expressed in the placenta, relative to seven other tissues. These studies provide a genome-wide transcriptomic view of placental tissue and identified novel genes highly expressed in term placenta that may be involved in both normal and pathogenic placental physiology. These findings also provide an important new reference that can aid in the identification of novel pathways regulating placental physiology.

Technical Abstract: As the conduit for nutrients and growth signals, the placenta is critical to establishing an environment sufficient for fetal growth and development. To better understand the mechanisms regulating placental development and gene expression, we characterized the transcriptome of term placenta from 20 healthy women with uncomplicated pregnancies using RNA-seq. To identify genes that were highly expressed and unique to the placenta we compared placental RNA-seq data to data from 7 other tissues (adipose, breast, hear, kidney, liver, lung, and smooth muscle) and identified several genes novel to placental biology (QSOX1, DLG5, and SEMA7A). Semi-quantitative RT-PCR confirmed the RNA-seq results and immunohistochemistry indicated these proteins were highly expressed in the placental syncytium. Additionally, we mined our RNA-seq data to map the relative expression of key developmental gene families (Fox, Sox, Gata, Tead, and Wnt) within the placenta. We identified FOXO4, GATA3, and WNT7A to be amongst the highest expressed members of these families. Overall, these findings provide a new reference for understanding of placental transcriptome and can aid in the identification of novel pathways regulating placenta physiology that may be dysregulated in placental disease.