An epigenetic cause of miscarriage found and cured

Researchers led by Azusa Inoue at the Riken Center for Integrative Medical Sciences (IMS) have discovered a gene that causes prenatal death when egg cells lack key intergenerational instructions

Inoue said: "This study identifies genes critical to fetal development whose expression is controlled by histone modifications that are passed on from the egg to the next generation

For the embryo to develop properly, the egg and sperm need to receive important biological instructions before they meet

When modifications in gene expression are passed on to the next generation, they are called trans-representative epigenetic changes because they are heritable changes even when the DNA code remains the same

The study began by knocking out a gene required for H3K27 trimethylation in eggs so that it could not be passed on from generation to generation

The result is almost as expected

"We were successful in curing a developmental defect in a mouse model that would otherwise suffer from prenatal death and placental malformations due to the lack of trans-representative epigenetic instructions from the mother," Inoue said

Noncanonical imprinting sustains embryonic development and restrains placental overgrowth .