<i>Peg3</i> Deficiency Results in Sexually Dimorphic Losses and Gains in the Normal Repertoire of Placental Hormones.
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Authors
Boqué-Sastre, Raquel
McNamara, Gráinne I
Hunter, Susan M
Creeth, Hugo DJ
Publication Date
2018-01Journal Title
Frontiers in cell and developmental biology
ISSN
2296-634X
Volume
6
Pages
123
Language
eng
Type
Article
Physical Medium
Electronic-eCollection
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Tunster, S., Boqué-Sastre, R., McNamara, G. I., Hunter, S. M., Creeth, H. D., & John, R. M. (2018). <i>Peg3</i> Deficiency Results in Sexually Dimorphic Losses and Gains in the Normal Repertoire of Placental Hormones.. Frontiers in cell and developmental biology, 6 123. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcell.2018.00123
Abstract
Hormones from the fetally-derived placenta signal to the mother throughout pregnancy to ensure optimal fetal growth and
prepare the mother for her new role in nurturing her offspring. Through evolution, placental hormones have under gone
remarkable diversification and species-specific expansions thought to be due to constant rebalancing of resource allocation
between mother and offspring. Genomic imprinting, an epigenetic process in which parental genomes silence genes in the
offspring, is thought to be the physical embodiment of a second conflicting interest, between the male and female mammal. Several
genes silenced by the paternal genome normally function to limit the placental endocrine lineages of the mouse placenta. We
hypothesised that the male genome has adapted to overcome the rapid evolution of placental hormone gene families by directly
regulating the lineages that express these hormones rather than individual hormones. This predicts the existence of genes
maternally silenced in the offspring counteracting the influence of the paternal genome. Here we report on the consequences of
loss of function of Paternally expressed gene 3 (Peg3) on placental endocrine lineages. Mutant male placenta displayed a marked loss
of the spongiotrophoblast, a key endocrine lineage of the placenta, and the glycogen cell lineage alongside reduced stores of
placental glycogen and changes in expression of the normal repertoire of placental hormones. Peg3 is known to transcriptionally
repress placental hormone genes. Peg3 consequently both positively and negatively regulates placental hormones through two
independent and opposing mechanisms. Female placenta showed moderate response to loss of Peg3 with minor alterations to the
junctional zone lineages and few changes in gene expression. These data highlight the important fact that female placenta
compensate for the loss of Peg3 better than male placenta. This work lends further support to our novel hypothesis that the
parental genomes are competing over the endocrine function of the mouse placenta and further suggests that a conflict between
males and females begins in utero.
Identifiers
External DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fcell.2018.00123
This record's URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/285142