Investigation of biological factors influencing the placental mRNA profile in maternal plasma. (10th January 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Tsui, Nancy B. Y.; Wong, Cesar S. C.; Chow, Katherine C. K.; Lo, Elena S. F.; Cheng, Yvonne K. Y.
• Is Part Of: Prenatal diagnosis. Volume 34:Number 3(2014:Mar.)
• Page Start: 251
• Page End: 258
• Publication Date: 2014-01-10
• Subjects: Prenatal diagnosis -- Periodicals; Fetus -- Diseases -- Diagnosis -- Periodicals; Electronic journals; 618.32075
• DOI: 10.1002/pd.4300
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0197-3851

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main"> <title>ABSTRACT</title> <sec id="pd4300-sec-0001" sec-type="section"> <title>Objective</title> <p>Circulating placental‐derived RNA is useful for noninvasive prenatal investigation. However, in addition to placental gene expression, there are limited investigations on other biological parameters that may affect the circulating placental RNA profile. In this study, we explored two of these potential parameters.</p> </sec> <sec id="pd4300-sec-0002" sec-type="section"> <title>Methods</title> <p>We first demonstrated the existence of such biological parameters by comparing the relative levels of a panel of placental‐derived transcripts between the placentas and maternal plasma by digital PCRs. We then compared the post‐delivery clearance of the transcripts by serial plasma samples collected from pregnant women after delivery. We also studied the placental <italic>in vivo</italic> localization of the transcripts by <italic>in situ</italic> hybridization.</p> </sec> <sec id="pd4300-sec-0003" sec-type="section"> <title>Results</title> <p>There was an imperfect correlation of the transcript levels between the placentas and maternal plasma, with <italic>placenta‐specific 4</italic> (<italic>PLAC4</italic>) mRNA showing the largest discrepancy. Although <italic>PLAC4</italic> mRNA showed a similar clearance half‐life with other transcripts, we observed a preferential localization of <italic>PLAC4</italic> mRNA around the villous surface. We speculated that this phenomenon might play a role in favoring the release of <italic>PLAC4</italic> mRNA molecules into maternal plasma.</p> </sec> <sec id="pd4300-sec-0004" sec-type="section"> <title>Conclusion</title> <p>We revealed that in addition to expression levels in the placenta, other biological factors might interplay to determine the maternal plasma profile of placental‐derived RNAs. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.</p> </sec> </abstract>