Despite the success of Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART), recent data suggest a link between the use of ART and diseases related to epigenetic errors.To evaluate the impact of Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART), on DNA methylation, we analyzed:
1) the methylation profile of 2 imprinted loci, H19DMR and KvDMR1, in human immature oocytes which were vitrified and matured in vitro after warming. We have shown for the first time that vitrification/IVM process did not alter the imprinting. Then, this new technology could be a promising alternative to preserve the procreative potential of women before cancer treatment.
2) the methylation profile of H19DMR in human embryos with developmental anomalies and in the gametes of the parents. We have shown that imprinting errors in these embryos have no apparent link with ICSI indications, but were related to alterations in H19DMR occurring either during oogenesis or early development.
3) the methylation profile of the promoters of Oct4 and Nanog, essential genes for the expression of pluripotency in human arrested embryos after prolonged culture.
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Publications :
Vitrification at the germinal vesicle stage does not affect the methylation profile of H19 and KCNQ1OT1 imprinting centers in human oocytes subsequently matured in vitro. Fertility and Sterility (2011). By American Society for Reproductive Medicine.
Analysis of H19 methylation in control and abnormal human embryos, sperm and oocytes. European Journal of Human Genetics (2011). By European Society of Human Genetics.
Abnormal methylation of KCNQ1OT1 and differential methylation of H19 imprinting control regions in human ICSI embryos. Zygote 2011(In press). By Cambridge University Press
The primate-specific microRNA gene cluster (C19MC) is imprinted in the placenta. Human molecular genetics (2010). By Oxford University Press.
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