Open Access

Loss of imprinting and aberrant methylation of IGF2 in placentas from pregnancies complicated with fetal growth restriction

  • Authors:
    • Ourania Koukoura
    • Stavros Sifakis
    • Giannoula Soufla
    • Apostolos Zaravinos
    • Sophia Apostolidou
    • Allison Jones
    • Martin Widschwendter
    • Demetrios A. Spandidos
  • View Affiliations

  • Published online on: July 19, 2011     https://doi.org/10.3892/ijmm.2011.754
  • Pages: 481-487
Metrics: Total Views: 0 (Spandidos Publications: | PMC Statistics: )
Total PDF Downloads: 0 (Spandidos Publications: | PMC Statistics: )


Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the hypothesis that the altered epigenetic mechanisms that regulate IGF2 imprinting in placentas from fetal growth restricted (FGR) pregnancies affect IGF2 expression leading to impaired fetal growth. We investigated gene transcription, genotyping and the methylation patterns of IGF2 from 31 and 17 placentas from FGR-complicated and normal pregnancies, respectively. A statistically significant decrease in IGF2 mRNA levels was observed in the placentas from the FGR pregnancies. Loss of imprinting (LOI) was only detected in the abnormal placentas. The evaluation of the percentage of the methylated reference (PMR) of two different potentially differentially methylated regions (DMR) demonstrated significant PMR values in both sites for the normal and FGR pregnancies with no significant differences. Our results suggest the involvement of the IGF2 imprinted gene in placental function and fetal growth and the possible association of epigenetic alterations with the pathophysiology of fetal growth restriction.

Related Articles

Journal Cover

October 2011
Volume 28 Issue 4

Print ISSN: 1107-3756
Online ISSN:1791-244X

Sign up for eToc alerts

Recommend to Library

Copy and paste a formatted citation
x
Spandidos Publications style
Koukoura O, Sifakis S, Soufla G, Zaravinos A, Apostolidou S, Jones A, Widschwendter M and Spandidos DA: Loss of imprinting and aberrant methylation of IGF2 in placentas from pregnancies complicated with fetal growth restriction. Int J Mol Med 28: 481-487, 2011
APA
Koukoura, O., Sifakis, S., Soufla, G., Zaravinos, A., Apostolidou, S., Jones, A. ... Spandidos, D.A. (2011). Loss of imprinting and aberrant methylation of IGF2 in placentas from pregnancies complicated with fetal growth restriction. International Journal of Molecular Medicine, 28, 481-487. https://doi.org/10.3892/ijmm.2011.754
MLA
Koukoura, O., Sifakis, S., Soufla, G., Zaravinos, A., Apostolidou, S., Jones, A., Widschwendter, M., Spandidos, D. A."Loss of imprinting and aberrant methylation of IGF2 in placentas from pregnancies complicated with fetal growth restriction". International Journal of Molecular Medicine 28.4 (2011): 481-487.
Chicago
Koukoura, O., Sifakis, S., Soufla, G., Zaravinos, A., Apostolidou, S., Jones, A., Widschwendter, M., Spandidos, D. A."Loss of imprinting and aberrant methylation of IGF2 in placentas from pregnancies complicated with fetal growth restriction". International Journal of Molecular Medicine 28, no. 4 (2011): 481-487. https://doi.org/10.3892/ijmm.2011.754