Poster session IV
Academic issues, antepartum fetal, clinical obstetrics, computers, fetus, genetics, hypertension, medical-surgical-diseases-complications, operative obstetrics, ultrasound: Abstracts 537 - 686
587: Functional transcriptomic analysis of mid-trimester and term amniotic fluid cell-free RNA provides new insights regarding fetal development

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajog.2012.10.753Get rights and content

Section snippets

Objective

Prior analysis of mid-trimester amniotic fluid (AF) cell-free fetal (cff) RNA has demonstrated the presence of multiple organ-specific transcripts. No equivalent studies have been performed on term fetuses. Here we compared AF cff RNA between term and mid-trimester fetuses to identify biological pathways and tissue expression patterns associated with advancing gestational age.

Study Design

This was a prospective whole genome microarray study comparing 8 term AF samples collected at Cesarean section (without labor) and 8 euploid mid-trimester AF samples from routine amniocenteses. The independent t test with Benjamini-Hochberg correction was used to identify differentially regulated genes. Functional analysis was performed with Ingenuity Pathways Analysis (IPA). We used the Database for Annotation, Visualization, Integration and Discovery (DAVID) to identify tissues that were

Results

2871 genes were significantly differentially regulated in term vs. mid-trimester AF. IPA showed enrichment of multiple physiological systems. Term fetuses showed up-regulation of hepatic development, adipogenesis and insulin sensitivity pathways. Mid-trimester fetuses showed upregulation of organismal development, tissue morphology and skin development. In term AF, DAVID tissue expression analysis showed enrichment of saliva, trachea, and kidney transcripts. In contrast, mid-trimester AF

Conclusion

This study demonstrates that fetal gene expression, as ascertained through AF cff RNA, is focused on different processes at mid-trimester and at term. At term, up-regulated genes and pathways are associated with key newborn functions, such as eating, breathing, and energy metabolism. Transcripts highly expressed by the fetal brain are significantly up-regulated in mid-trimester, suggesting that this is a good period to study neurodevelopment.

References (0)

Cited by (0)

View full text