B4749 - Smart Watch Face - Predicting Offspring Reproductive Development Using Maternal Placenta DNA Methylation Clock - 26/11/2024

B number: 
B4749
Principal applicant name: 
Ping Zeng | Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Xuzhou Medical University (中国)
Co-applicants: 
Chu Zheng, Xinghao Yu
Title of project: 
Smart Watch Face - Predicting Offspring Reproductive Development Using Maternal Placenta DNA Methylation Clock.
Proposal summary: 

This study focuses on the physiological behaviors of pregnant women and the health of their offspring. It leverages population information and biological samples from ALSPAC (Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children), the Shanghai Minhang Birth Cohort, and the Millennium Cohort Study. By employing novel statistical modeling strategies and machine learning techniques, the research predicts the epigenetic age of pregnant women, a unique population, through DNA methylation data of maternal and child samples. Building upon this, the study further investigates the impact of actual age, epigenetic age, and accelerated epigenetic aging on the reproductive development outcomes of the offspring. This approach aims to provide new insights into the role of epigenetic mechanisms in the mother-child interaction and offspring development, offering potential epigenetic targets for interventions to improve maternal and child health.

Impact of research: 
This study constructs an epigenetic clock for pregnant women based on placental DNA methylation information, addressing the applicability gap of traditional methods for estimating epigenetic age in the pregnant population and improving the accuracy and specificity of such estimates. By incorporating the actual age of the mother, her epigenetic age, and the accelerated epigenetic age (the residual difference between epigenetic age and actual age) into a unified analytical framework, this research explores how these factors jointly influence the reproductive and developmental processes of the offspring, providing new insights and methods for predicting and optimizing the healthy development of the offspring. Through in-depth investigation of the intrinsic relationship between maternal epigenetic age and offspring reproductive development, the study uncovers the epigenetic mechanisms underlying the mother-fetus interaction, offering scientific evidence and potential intervention targets for optimizing maternal and infant health management, preventing birth defects, and promoting the healthy growth of the offspring. This work is expected to guide clinical practice in the field of maternal and infant health in the future.
Date proposal received: 
Friday, 22 November, 2024
Date proposal approved: 
Monday, 25 November, 2024
Keywords: 
Genetics, Pregnancy - e.g. reproductive health, postnatal depression, birth outcomes, etc., DNA sequencing, Epigenetics