Biparental expression of ESX1L gene in placentas from normal and intrauterine growth-restricted pregnancies

Equivalent levels of X-linked gene products between males and females are reached by means of X chromosome inactivation (XCI). In the human and murine embryonic tissues, both the paternally and maternally derived X chromosomes (X P and X M) may be inactivated. In murine extra-embryonic tissues, X P is imprinted and always silenced; humans, unlike mice, can inactivate the X M in extra-embryonic lineages without an adverse outcome. This difference is probably due to the presence of imprinted placental genes on the murine X chromosome, but not on the human homologue, essential for placental development and function. An example is the paternally imprinted Esx1 gene; mice with a null maternally derived Esx1 allele show intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) because of placental insufficiency. We investigated the imprinting status of the human orthologous Esx1 gene (ESX1L) in placental samples of four normal full-term and 13 IUGR female fetuses, in which we determined the XCI pattern. Our findings demonstrated that IUGR as well as normal placentas display XCI heterogeneity, thus indicating that the IUGR phenotype is not correlated with a preferential pattern of XCI in placentas. Moreover, ESX1L is equally expressed in IUGR and normal placentas, and shows the same methylation pattern in the presence of both random and skewed XCI. These findings provide evidence that ESX1L is not imprinted in human third-trimester placentas and there is no parent-of-origin effect of chromosome X associated with placental insufficiency

Trends in High Performance Liquid Chromatography for Cultural Heritage

The separation, detection and quantitation of specific species contained in a sample in the field of Cultural Heritage requires selective, sensitive and reliable methods. Procedures based on liquid chromatography fulfil these requirements and offer a wide range of applicability in terms of analyte types and concentration range. The main applications of High Performance Liquid Chromatography in this field are related to the separation and detection of dyestuffs in archaeological materials and paint samples by reversed-phase liquid chromatography with suitable detectors. The relevant literature will be revised, with particular attention to sample treatment strategies and future developments. Reversed phase chromatography has also recently gained increasing importance in the analysis of lipid binders and lipid materials in archaeological residues: the main advantages and disadvantages of the new approaches will be discussed. Finally, the main applications of ion chromatography and size exclusion chromatography in the field of Cultural Heritage will be revised in this chapter