Placental effects on the maternal brain revealed by disrupted placental gene expression in mouse hybrids.

ABSTRACT: The mammalian placenta is both the physical interface between mother and fetus, and the source of endocrine signals that target the maternal hypothalamus, priming females for parturition, lactation and motherhood. Despite the importance of this connection, the effects of altered placental signalling on the maternal brain are insufficiently studied. Here, we show that placental dysfunction alters gene expression in the maternal brain, with the potential to affect maternal behaviour. Using a cross between the house mouse and the Algerian mouse, in which hybrid placental development is abnormal, we sequenced late-gestation placental and maternal medial preoptic area transcriptomes and quantified differential expression and placenta-maternal brain co-expression between normal and hybrid pregna

SUBMITTER: Arevalo L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7003458 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature