Project description:Maternal stress has long been associated with lower birthweight but mechanisms remain elusive. This study explored how maternal stress may impact changes in gene expression within a cohort of mother-placenta-newborn triads in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo We used microarrays to detail the global programme of gene expression underlying the impact of maternal stress on newborn birthweight and identified that global placental gene expression may partially mediate the negative impact of maternal war stress on newborn birthweight.
Project description:Genome-wide DNA methylation profiling of venous blood samples from children in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo from birth to age three. DNA methylation data were noob normalized and uploaded to Steve Horvath's epigenetic age calculator website to calculate Horvath epigenetic age acceleration for each participant at each timepoint for which they had data available. Replicates were averaged and a single outlier at birth was removed as described in the manuscript, leaving 155 observations from 67 unique individuals. Sample size at each timepoint was as follows: n = 64 at birth, n = 8 at six months, n= 35 at one year, n = 32 at two years, and n = 16 at three years.
Project description:Prenatal maternal stress has a negative impact on child health but the mechanisms through which maternal stress affects child health are unclear. Epigenetic variation, such as DNA methylation, is a likely mechanistic candidate as DNA methylation is sensitive to environmental insults and can regulate long-term changes in gene expression. We recruited mother-newborn dyads in the Democratic Republic of Congo to investigate the effects of maternal stress on DNA methylation in mothers and newborns. We used four measures of maternal stress to capture a range of stressful experiences: general trauma, sexual trauma, war trauma, and chronic stress. We identified differentially methylated positions (DMPs) associated with general trauma, sexual trauma, and war trauma in both mothers and newborns. No DMPs were associated with chronic stress. Sexual trauma was positively associated with epigenetic age acceleration across several epigenetic clocks in mothers. General trauma and war trauma were positively associated with newborn epigenetic age acceleration using the extrinsic epigenetic age clock. We tested the top DMPs for enrichment of DNase I hypersensitive sites (DHS) and found no enrichment in mothers. In newborns, top DMPs associated with war trauma were enriched for DHS in embryonic and fetal cell types. Finally, one of the top DMPs associated with war trauma in newborns also predicted birthweight, completing the cycle from maternal stress to DNA methylation to newborn health outcome. Our results indicate that maternal stress is associated with site-specific changes in DNAm and epigenetic age acceleration in both mothers and newborns.
Project description:Prenatal maternal stress has a negative impact on child health but the mechanisms through which maternal stress affects child health are unclear. Epigenetic variation, such as DNA methylation, is a likely mechanistic candidate as DNA methylation is sensitive to environmental insults and can regulate long-term changes in gene expression. We recruited mother-newborn dyads in the Democratic Republic of Congo to investigate the effects of maternal stress on DNA methylation in mothers and newborns. We used four measures of maternal stress to capture a range of stressful experiences: general trauma, sexual trauma, war trauma, and chronic stress. We identified differentially methylated positions (DMPs) associated with general trauma, sexual trauma, and war trauma in both mothers and newborns. No DMPs were associated with chronic stress. Sexual trauma was positively associated with epigenetic age acceleration across several epigenetic clocks in mothers. General trauma and war trauma were positively associated with newborn epigenetic age acceleration using the extrinsic epigenetic age clock. We tested the top DMPs for enrichment of DNase I hypersensitive sites (DHS) and found no enrichment in mothers. In newborns, top DMPs associated with war trauma were enriched for DHS in embryonic and fetal cell types. Finally, one of the top DMPs associated with war trauma in newborns also predicted birthweight, completing the cycle from maternal stress to DNA methylation to newborn health outcome. Our results indicate that maternal stress is associated with site-specific changes in DNAm and epigenetic age acceleration in both mothers and newborns.
Project description:Whole-genome sequences of multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli in South-Kivu Province, Democratic Republic of Congo: characterization of phylogenomic changes, virulence and resistance genes
Project description:Anopheles funestus pooled template whole genome sequencing of field-collected mosquitoes (from Democratic Republic of Congo and Mozambique).
Project description:Whole genome sequencing (WGS) was carried out on 78 V. cholerae clinical isolates characterized phenotypically and associated with cholera in eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo between 2014 and 2017
Project description:The purpose of this experiment was to obtain samples for mRNA analysis in IHH cells infected with Zaire Ebola virus and mutants: Zaire Ebola virus: This wild-type Ebola virus - strain Mayinga - was isolated from a fatal human case in Zaire (now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo) in 1976 Zaire Ebola virus, VP35 R312A possesses a R312A mutation in the VP35 protein. Zaire Ebola virus, delta sGP. Lacks the ability to produce non-structural protein, the secreted glycoprotein (sGP). Zaire Ebola virus, delta mucin. Lacks the mucin-like domain (MLD), which contains both N-linked and O-linked glycosylation sites, for the glycoproteins.