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Genetic regulation of the placental transcriptome underlies birth weight and risk of childhood obesity

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  • Shouneng Peng
  • Maya A Deyssenroth
  • Antonio F Di Narzo
  • Haoxiang Cheng
  • Zhongyang Zhang
  • Luca Lambertini
  • Arno Ruusalepp
  • Jason C Kovacic
  • Johan L M Bjorkegren
  • Carmen J Marsit
  • Jia Chen
  • Ke Hao

Abstract

GWAS identified variants associated with birth weight (BW), childhood obesity (CO) and childhood BMI (CBMI), and placenta is a critical organ for fetal development and postnatal health. We examined the role of placental transcriptome and eQTLs in mediating the genetic causes for BW, CO and CBMI, and applied integrative analysis (Colocalization and MetaXcan). GWAS loci associated with BW, CO, and CBMI were substantially enriched for placenta eQTLs (6.76, 4.83 and 2.26 folds, respectively). Importantly, compared to eQTLs of adult tissues, only placental eQTLs contribute significantly to both anthropometry outcomes at birth (BW) and childhood phenotypes (CO/CBMI). Eight, six and one transcripts colocalized with BW, CO and CBMI risk loci, respectively. Our study reveals that placental transcription in utero likely plays a key role in determining postnatal body size, and as such may hold new possibilities for therapeutic interventions to prevent childhood obesity.Author summary: Genetic studies (e.g GWAS) revealed substantial heritability on birth weight (BW), childhood obesity (CO) and childhood body mass index (CBMI), however, the etiological mechanisms and relevant tissue(s) underlying these traits/conditions are not clear. We incorporated the data from largest GWASes to date and placenta expressional quantitative trait loci (eQTL) that have been newly published, and showed the variants associated with BW, CO and CBMI were substantially enriched for placenta eQTLs (6.76, 4.83 and 2.26 folds, respectively). Importantly, compared to eQTLs in 7 adult tissues such as adipose and liver, only eQTLs in the placenta were found to contribute significantly not only to anthropometry outcomes at birth (BW) but also to childhood phenotypes (CO/CBMI). Further, we employed COLOC and MetaXcan analyses and identified placenta transcripts potential mediate the genetic effect of BW/CO/CBMI GWAS loci. In summary, our study strongly supports a key role for the placenta in determining BW, CO and CMBI at the molecular level, and pinpointed genes whose expression levels in placenta potentially influences BW and CO risk.

Suggested Citation

  • Shouneng Peng & Maya A Deyssenroth & Antonio F Di Narzo & Haoxiang Cheng & Zhongyang Zhang & Luca Lambertini & Arno Ruusalepp & Jason C Kovacic & Johan L M Bjorkegren & Carmen J Marsit & Jia Chen & Ke, 2018. "Genetic regulation of the placental transcriptome underlies birth weight and risk of childhood obesity," PLOS Genetics, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(12), pages 1-15, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:plo:pgen00:1007799
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1007799
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Marie Cecilie Paasche Roland & Camilla M Friis & Nanna Voldner & Kristin Godang & Jens Bollerslev & Guttorm Haugen & Tore Henriksen, 2012. "Fetal Growth versus Birthweight: The Role of Placenta versus Other Determinants," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(6), pages 1-7, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Gianluca Ursini & Pasquale Di Carlo & Sreya Mukherjee & Qiang Chen & Shizhong Han & Jiyoung Kim & Maya Deyssenroth & Carmen J. Marsit & Jia Chen & Ke Hao & Giovanna Punzi & Daniel R. Weinberger, 2023. "Prioritization of potential causative genes for schizophrenia in placenta," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-17, December.
    2. Fasil Tekola-Ayele & Cuilin Zhang & Jing Wu & Katherine L Grantz & Mohammad L Rahman & Deepika Shrestha & Marion Ouidir & Tsegaselassie Workalemahu & Michael Y Tsai, 2020. "Trans-ethnic meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies identifies maternal ITPR1 as a novel locus influencing fetal growth during sensitive periods in pregnancy," PLOS Genetics, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(5), pages 1-20, May.
    3. Fasil Tekola-Ayele & Xuehuo Zeng & Suvo Chatterjee & Marion Ouidir & Corina Lesseur & Ke Hao & Jia Chen & Markos Tesfaye & Carmen J. Marsit & Tsegaselassie Workalemahu & Ronald Wapner, 2022. "Placental multi-omics integration identifies candidate functional genes for birthweight," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-12, December.

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