DNA methylation dynamics during pregnancy

Delphine Fradin; Jorg Tost; Florence Busato; Clémence Mille; Fanny Lachaux; Jean-François Deleuze; Gisèle Apter; Alexandra Benachi

doi:10.3389/fcell.2023.1185311

DNA methylation dynamics during pregnancy

Front Cell Dev Biol. 2023 May 22:11:1185311. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2023.1185311. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Delphine Fradin¹, Jorg Tost², Florence Busato², Clémence Mille¹, Fanny Lachaux¹, Jean-François Deleuze³, Gisèle Apter⁴, Alexandra Benachi⁵

Affiliations

¹ INSERM U1169, Bicêtre Hospital, Paris Sud University, Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, Paris, France.
² The Laboratory for Epigenetics and Environment, Centre National de Recherche en Genomique Humaine, CEA-Institut de Biologie Francois Jacob, Université Paris-Saclay, Evry, France.
³ Centre National de Recherche en Génomique Humaine, Institut de Biologie François Jacob, CEA, Université Paris-Saclay, Evry, France.
⁴ Child and Perinatal Psychiatric Department, Le Havre University Hospital, University Rouen Normandie, Le Havre, France.
⁵ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, DMU Santé des Femmes et des Nouveau-nés, Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris, Antoine Beclere Hospital, Université Paris-Saclay, Paris, France.

Abstract

Pregnancy is a state of multiple physiological adaptations. Since methylation of DNA is an epigenetic mechanism that regulates gene expression and contributes to adaptive phenotypic variations, we investigated methylation changes in maternal blood of a longitudinal cohort of pregnant women from the first trimester of gestation to the third. Interestingly, during pregnancy, we found a gain of methylation in genes involved in morphogenesis, such as ezrin, while we identified a loss of methylation in genes promoting maternal-infant bonding (AVP and PPP1R1B). Together, our results provide insights into the biological mechanisms underlying physiological adaptations during pregnancy.

Keywords: DNA methylation; bonding; changes; immunity; pregnancy.

Grants and funding

This study was funded by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (Project-ANR-12-DSSA-0006 Epichild).