scholarly journals Somatic mutations reveal widespread mosaicism and mutagenesis in human placentas

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim H. H. Coorens ◽  
Thomas R. W. Oliver ◽  
Rashesh Sanghvi ◽  
Ulla Sovio ◽  
Emma Cook ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTClinical investigations of human fetuses have revealed that placentas occasionally harbour chromosomal aberrations that are absent from the fetus1. The basis of this genetic segregation of the placenta, termed confined placental mosaicism, remains unknown. Here, we investigated the phylogeny of human placentas reconstructed from somatic mutations, using whole genome sequencing of 86 placental biopsies and of 106 microdissections. We found that every placental biopsy represented a clonal expansion that is genetically distinct. Biopsies exhibited a genomic landscape akin to childhood cancer, in terms of mutation burden and mutational imprints. Furthermore, unlike any other human normal tissue studied to date, placental genomes commonly harboured copy number changes. Reconstructing phylogenetic relationships between tissues from the same pregnancy, revealed that developmental bottlenecks confined placental tissues, by separating trophectodermal from inner cell mass-derived lineages. Of particular note were cases in which inner cell mass-derived and placental lineages fully segregated within a few cell divisions of the zygote. Such early embryonic bottlenecks may enable the normalisation of zygotic aneuploidy. We observed direct evidence for this in a case of mosaic trisomic rescue. Our findings reveal cancer-like mutagenesis in placental tissues and portray confined mosaicism as the normal outcome of placental development.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pablo Bora ◽  
Lenka Gahurova ◽  
Tomáš Mašek ◽  
Andrea Hauserova ◽  
David Potěšil ◽  
...  

AbstractBackgroundp38-MAPKs are stress-activated kinases necessary for placental development and nutrient and oxygen transfer during murine post-implantation development. In preimplantation development, p38-MAPK activity is required for blastocyst formation. Additionally, we have previously reported its role in regulating specification of inner cell mass (ICM) towards primitive endoderm (PrE), although a comprehensive mechanistic understanding is currently limited. Adopting live embryo imaging, proteomic and transcriptomic approaches, we report experimental data that directly address this deficit.ResultsChemical inhibition of p38-MAPK activity during blastocyst maturation causes impaired blastocyst cavity expansion, most evident between the third and tenth hours post inhibition onset. We identify an overlapping minimal early blastocyst maturation window of p38-MAPKi inhibition (p38-MAPKi) sensitivity, that is sufficient to impair PrE cell fate by the late blastocyst (E4.5) stage. Comparative proteomic analyses reveal substantial downregulation of ribosomal proteins, the mRNA transcripts of which are also significantly upregulated. Ontological analysis of the differentially expressed transcriptome during this developmental period reveals “translation” related gene transcripts as being most significantly, yet transiently, affected by p38-MAPKi. Moreover, combined assays consistently report concomitant reductions in de novo translation that are associated with accumulation of unprocessed rRNA precursors. Using a phosphoproteomic approach, ± p38-MAPKi, we identified Mybpp1a, an rRNA transcription and processing regulator gene, as a potential p38-MAPK effector. We report that siRNA mediated clonal knockdown of Mybpp1a is associated with significantly diminished PrE contribution. Lastly, we show that defective PrE specification caused by p38-MAPKi (but not MEK/ERK signalling inhibition) can be partially rescued by activating the archetypal mTOR mediated translation regulatory pathway.ConclusionsActivated p38-MAPK controls blastocyst maturation in an early and distinctly transient developmental window by regulating gene functionalities related to translation, that creates a permissive environment for appropriate specification of ICM cell fate.


Author(s):  
Marc Lenburg ◽  
Rulang Jiang ◽  
Lengya Cheng ◽  
Laura Grabel

We are interested in defining the cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions that help direct the differentiation of extraembryonic endoderm in the peri-implantation mouse embryo. At the blastocyst stage the mouse embryo consists of an outer layer of trophectoderm surrounding the fluid-filled blastocoel cavity and an eccentrically located inner cell mass. On the free surface of the inner cell mass, facing the blastocoel cavity, a layer of primitive endoderm forms. Primitive endoderm then generates two distinct cell types; parietal endoderm (PE) which migrates along the inner surface of the trophectoderm and secretes large amounts of basement membrane components as well as tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA), and visceral endoderm (VE), a columnar epithelial layer characterized by tight junctions, microvilli, and the synthesis and secretion of α-fetoprotein. As these events occur after implantation, we have turned to the F9 teratocarcinoma system as an in vitro model for examining the differentiation of these cell types. When F9 cells are treated in monolayer with retinoic acid plus cyclic-AMP, they differentiate into PE. In contrast, when F9 cells are treated in suspension with retinoic acid, they form embryoid bodies (EBs) which consist of an outer layer of VE and an inner core of undifferentiated stem cells. In addition, we have established that when VE containing embryoid bodies are plated on a fibronectin coated substrate, PE migrates onto the matrix and this interaction is inhibited by RGDS as well as antibodies directed against the β1 integrin subunit. This transition is accompanied by a significant increase in the level of tPA in the PE cells. Thus, the outgrowth system provides a spatially appropriate model for studying the differentiation and migration of PE from a VE precursor.


Diabetes ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 471-476 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Pampfer ◽  
R. de Hertogh ◽  
I. Vanderheyden ◽  
B. Michiels ◽  
M. Vercheval

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marino Maemura ◽  
Hiroaki Taketsuru ◽  
Yuki Nakajima ◽  
Ruiqi Shao ◽  
Ayaka Kakihara ◽  
...  

AbstractIn multicellular organisms, oocytes and sperm undergo fusion during fertilization and the resulting zygote gives rise to a new individual. The ability of zygotes to produce a fully formed individual from a single cell when placed in a supportive environment is known as totipotency. Given that totipotent cells are the source of all multicellular organisms, a better understanding of totipotency may have a wide-ranging impact on biology. The precise delineation of totipotent cells in mammals has remained elusive, however, although zygotes and single blastomeres of embryos at the two-cell stage have been thought to be the only totipotent cells in mice. We now show that a single blastomere of two- or four-cell mouse embryos can give rise to a fertile adult when placed in a uterus, even though blastomere isolation disturbs the transcriptome of derived embryos. Single blastomeres isolated from embryos at the eight-cell or morula stages and cultured in vitro manifested pronounced defects in the formation of epiblast and primitive endoderm by the inner cell mass and in the development of blastocysts, respectively. Our results thus indicate that totipotency of mouse zygotes extends to single blastomeres of embryos at the four-cell stage.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chuan Chen ◽  
Wenqiang Liu ◽  
Jiayin Guo ◽  
Yuanyuan Liu ◽  
Xuelian Liu ◽  
...  

AbstractN6-methyladenosine (m6A) on chromosome-associated regulatory RNAs (carRNAs), including repeat RNAs, plays important roles in tuning the chromatin state and transcription, but the intrinsic mechanism remains unclear. Here, we report that YTHDC1 plays indispensable roles in the self-renewal and differentiation potency of mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs), which highly depends on the m6A-binding ability. Ythdc1 is required for sufficient rRNA synthesis and repression of the 2-cell (2C) transcriptional program in ESCs, which recapitulates the transcriptome regulation by the LINE1 scaffold. Detailed analyses revealed that YTHDC1 recognizes m6A on LINE1 RNAs in the nucleus and regulates the formation of the LINE1-NCL partnership and the chromatin recruitment of KAP1. Moreover, the establishment of H3K9me3 on 2C-related retrotransposons is interrupted in Ythdc1-depleted ESCs and inner cell mass (ICM) cells, which consequently increases the transcriptional activities. Our study reveals a role of m6A in regulating the RNA scaffold, providing a new model for the RNA-chromatin cross-talk.


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