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22 December 2021 Methylation-reprogrammed CHRM3 results in vascular dysfunction in the human umbilical vein following IVF-ET
Yajun Shi, Jingliu Liu, Dan Zhu, Likui Lu, Mengshu Zhang, Weisheng Li, Hongtao Zeng, Xi Yu, Jun Guo, Yingying Zhang, Xiuwen Zhou, Qinqin Gao, Fei Xia, Youguo Chen, Min Li, Miao Sun
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Abstract

Assisted reproductive technology (ART) has been used globally among infertile couples. However, many epidemiological investigations have indicated that ART is associated with a range of long-term adverse health outcomes in offspring, including cardiovascular disease, obesity, and increased plasma lipid levels. Until now, direct evidence has been limited regarding the pathological changes in vascular function in fetuses with ART. In this study, human umbilical cords were collected from healthy normal pregnancies and in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF-ET) pregnancies. Vascular functional studies involving acetylcholine (ACh), antagonists of its specific receptors, and L-type calcium channel/PKC-MLC20 phosphorylation pathway specific inhibitors were conducted. Quantitative real-time PCR, Western blotting, and methylation analyses were performed on umbilical vein samples. We found that the umbilical vein constriction induced by ACh in the IVF-ET group was significantly attenuated compared with that in the healthy normal pregnancy group, which was not only associated with the hypermethylation of ACh muscarinic receptor subtype 3 (CHRM3) and decreased expression of CHRM3, PKCβ, and CaV1.2, but was also related to the reduced phosphorylation of MLC20. This study revealed that the hypermethylation of CHRM3, leading to a reduction in CHRM3 expression and downregulation of the CaV1.2/PKC-MLC20 phosphorylation pathway, was responsible for the decreased sensitivity to ACh observed in the umbilical vein under IVF-ET conditions. The hypermethylation of CHRM3 caused by IVF-ET might play an important role in altered vasoconstriction and impact cardiovascular systems in the long run.

© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Society for the Study of Reproduction. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com
Yajun Shi, Jingliu Liu, Dan Zhu, Likui Lu, Mengshu Zhang, Weisheng Li, Hongtao Zeng, Xi Yu, Jun Guo, Yingying Zhang, Xiuwen Zhou, Qinqin Gao, Fei Xia, Youguo Chen, Min Li, and Miao Sun "Methylation-reprogrammed CHRM3 results in vascular dysfunction in the human umbilical vein following IVF-ET," Biology of Reproduction 106(4), 687-698, (22 December 2021). https://doi.org/10.1093/biolre/ioab234
Received: 27 July 2021; Accepted: 15 December 2021; Published: 22 December 2021
KEYWORDS
DNA methylation
human umbilical veins
in vitro fertilization
L-type calcium channels
muscarinic receptor subtype 3
myosin light chain
protein kinase C β
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