The distribution of cytosine methylation in 6.2 Mb of the mouse genome was tested using cohybridization of genomic representations from a methylation-sensitive restriction enzyme and its methylation-insensitive isoschizomer. This assay, termed HELP (HpaII tiny fragment Enrichment by Ligation-mediated PCR), allows both intragenomic profiling and intergenomic comparisons of cytosine methylation. The intragenomic profile shows most of the genome to be contiguous methylated sequence with occasional clusters of hypomethylated loci, usually but not exclusively at promoters and CpG islands. Intergenomic comparison found marked differences in cytosine methylation between spermatogenic and brain cells, identifying 223 new candidate tissue-specific differentially methylated regions (T-DMRs). Bisulfite pyrosequencing confirmed the four candidates tested to be T-DMRs, while quantitative RT-PCR for two genes with T-DMRs located at their promoters showed the HELP data to be correlated with gene activity at these loci. The HELP assay is robust, quantitative, and accurate and is providing new insights into the distribution and dynamic nature of cytosine methylation in the genome.

In addition to the genetic constitution inherited by an organism, the developmental trajectory and resulting mature phenotype are also determined by mechanisms acting during critical windows in early life that influence and establish stable patterns of gene expression. This is the crux of the developmental origins of health and disease hypothesis that suggests undernutrition during gestation and infancy predisposes to ill health in later life. The hypothesis that periconceptional maternal micronutrient supplementation might affect fetal genome-wide methylation within gene promoters was explored in cord blood samples from offspring of Gambian women enrolled into a unique randomized, double blind controlled trial. Significant changes in the epigenome in cord blood DNA samples were further explored in a subset of offspring at 9 months. Gender-specific changes related to periconceptional nutritional supplementation were identified in cord blood DNA samples, some of which showed persistent changes in infant blood DNA samples. Significant effects of periconceptional micronutrient supplementation were also observed in postnatal samples which were not evident in cord blood. In this Gambian population, the increased death rate of individuals born in nutritionally poor seasons has been related to infection and it is of interest that we identified differential methylation at genes associated with defence against infection and immune response. Although the sample size was relatively small, these pilot data suggest that periconceptional nutrition in humans is an important determinant of newborn whole genome methylation patterns but may also influence postnatal developmental patterns of gene promoter methylation linking early with disease risk.

Intrauterine exposures mediated by maternal diet may affect risk of cardiovascular disease, obesity, and type 2 diabetes. Recent evidence, primarily from animal studies and observational data in humans, suggests that the epigenome can be altered by maternal diet during the periconceptional period and that these programming events may underlie later disease risk. A randomized controlled trial of periconceptional micronutrient supplementation in The Gambia, where seasonal nutritional variations affect fetal growth and postnatal outcomes, provided a unique opportunity to test this hypothesis. Specifically, we targeted imprinted genes, which play important roles in allocation of maternal resources while being epigenetically regulated. DNA methylation at 12 differentially methylated regions (DMRs) was analyzed in cord blood samples from 58 offspring of women participating in a double-blind randomized-controlled trial of pre- and periconceptional micronutrient supplementation (including folate, zinc, and vitamins A, B, C, and D). We observed sex-specific effects of micronutrient supplementation, reducing methylation levels at two of the DMRs analyzed, IGF2R in girls and GTL2-2 in boys. This pilot study is the first to analyze DNA methylation in the context of a randomized controlled trial, and it provides suggestive evidence that periconceptional maternal nutrition alters offspring methylation at imprinted loci.

We report a new step in the fertilization in Xenopus laevis which has been found to involve activation of Src tyrosine kinase to stimulate phospholipase C-γ (PLC- γ) which increases inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3) to release intracellular calcium ([Ca]i). Molecular species analysis and mass measurements suggested that sperm activate phospholipase D (PLD) to elevate phosphatidic acid (PA). We now report that PA mass increased 2.7 fold by 1 minute after insemination and inhibition of PA production by two methods inhibited activation of Src and PLCγ, increased [Ca]i and other fertilization events. As compared to 14 other lipids, PA strongly bound Xenopus Src but not PLCγ. Addition of synthetic PA activated egg Src (an action requiring intact lipid rafts) and PLCγ as well as doubling the amount of PLCγ in rafts. In the absence of elevated [Ca]i, PA addition elevated IP3 mass to levels equivalent to that induced by sperm (but twice that achieved by calcium ionophore). Finally, PA induced [Ca]i release that was blocked by an IP3 receptor inhibitor. As only PLD1b message was detected, and Western blotting did not detect PLD2, we suggest that sperm activate PLD1b to elevate PA which then binds to and activates Src leading to PLCγ stimulation, IP3 elevation and [Ca]i release. Due to these and other studies, PA may also play a role in membrane fusion events such as sperm-egg fusion, cortical granule exocytosis, the elevation of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate and the large, late increase in sn 1,2-diacylglycerol in fertilization.

No abstract