Descripción del proyecto
FOR THE PAST THREE DECADES, ASSISTED REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGIES (ART) HAVE REVOLUTIONISED INFERTILITY TREATMENTS, ART NOW ACCOUNTS FOR BETWEEN 1-3% OF BIRTHS IN WESTERN COUNTRIES, AND THE USE OF IN VITRO FERTILIZATION (IVF) SERVICES IS BECOMING INCREASINGLY COMMON EACH YEAR, UNTIL RECENTLY, THE USE OF ART WAS THOUGHT TO BE SAFE, HOWEVER, SEVERAL LARGE EPIDEMIOLOGY STUDIES HAVE HIGHLIGHTED AN INCREASED RISK OF OBSTETRIC COMPLICATIONS, WITH ONE LARGE STUDY REPORTING A 2,6 FOLD INCREASE IN SEVERE INTRAUTERINE GROWTH RESTRICTION (IUGR) IN ART BABIES, IN ADDITION, THE USE OF IVF AND INTRACYTOPLAMSIC SPERM INJECTION (ICSI) HAS BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH AN INCREASE IN THE INCIDENCE OF THE RARE IMPRINTING DISORDERS ANGELMAN (AS) AND BECKWITH WIEDEMANN (BWS) SYNDROMES, AND IT IS PROBABLE THAT THE INCREASED FREQUENCY OF IUGR IN ART BABIES MAY ALSO BE DUE TO ABNORMAL IMPRINTING, AS A LARGE NUMBER OF IMPRINTED GENES HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO BE KEY FOR NORMAL FETAL GROWTH, INTERESTINGLY, ALL THESE IMPRINTING SYNDROMES ARE KNOWN TO RESULT FROM ALTERED MATERNALLY INHERITED DNA METHYLATION PROFILES AT ESSENTIAL IMPRINTING CONTROL REGIONS (ICRS), IN ORDER TO ADDRESS THE EPIGENETIC VULNERABILITY OF THE GENOME DURING ART, WE PROPOSE TO COMPARE LOCI SPECIFIC AND GENOME-WIDE DNA METHYLATION PROFILES IN IUGR ART BABIES, NON-IUGR ART BABIES, NORMALLY CONCEIVED BABIES WITH AND WITHOUT IUGR AND INDIVIDUALS WITH IMPRINTING SYNDROMES, WE HYPOTHESISE THAT BABIES CONCEIVED AFTER ART WILL HAVE AN INCREASED INCIDENCE OF ABNORMAL GLOBAL DNA METHYLATION, THIS IN TURN MAY INFLUENCE OTHER LAYER OF EPIGENETIC INFORMATION, SUCH AS AMINO-TAIL MODIFICATIONS OF HISTONES H3 AND H4, WHICH CAN ALL CONTRIBUTE TO LOSS OF GENOMIC IMPRINTING, ANY ABNORMAL EPIGENETIC PROFILES WITHIN THESE INDIVIDUALS MAY CONTRIBUTE TO THE INCREASED RISK OF IUGR, AND MAY ACT AS MARKERS FOR LATE ONSET DISEASE STATES, SUCH AS DIABETES AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF CANCERS, Histonas\metilación del DNA\técnicas de reproducción asistida