ArticleBMC genomics2021
Cell-specific characterization of the placental methylome.
Article in BMC genomics, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 88 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
88 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Epigenetic landscape of placental tissue in preeclampsia: a systematic review of DNA methylation profiles.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Pooled it
- Meta-analysis examining fetal sex-specific placental DNA methylation intensities and estimated cell composition post IVF.Molecular human reproduction · 2025Pooled it
- Sex-based differences in placental DNA methylation profiles related to gestational age: an NIH ECHO meta-analysis.Epigenetics · 2023Pooled it
- Prenatal social support in low-risk pregnancy shapes placental epigenome.BMC medicine · 2023Trial
- Sex-linked placental DNA methylation associated with early-onset preeclampsia.Research square · 2026Article
- Adverse and adaptive placental DNA methylation changes linking prenatal air pollution exposure to child lung function: findings from the SEPAGES cohort.EBioMedicine · 2026Article
- Placental molecular subtypes of severe preeclampsia reveal divergent aging trajectories and fetal growth outcomes.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Maternal antenatal depression and offspring DNA methylation.Journal of affective disorders · 2026Article
- Review
- DNA methylation in the placenta and household socioeconomic status: the SPAH study.Clinical epigenetics · 2026Article
- Long-read assembly reveals vast transcriptional complexity in the placenta associated with metabolic and endocrine function.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Characterizing placental dysfunction with DNA methylation profiling and placental histopathology.Placenta · 2026Article
- Glucocorticoid Receptor Signaling: Multilevel Organization, Roles in Fetal Development, and Postnatal Outcomes.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Sex-influenced DNA methylation differs by placental cell type.Biology of sex differences · 2026Article
- Article
- Integrative Analysis of Placental Methylomes Identifies Epigenetically Regulated Genes Implicated in Fetal Growth Restriction.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Cord blood DNA methylation and cell-type composition are not significantly associated with severe preeclampsia after cell-type and clinical covariate adjustment.GigaScience · 2026Article
- A placental DNA methylation score associated with early-onset preeclampsia and maternal vascular malperfusion pathology.Frontiers in epigenetics and epigenomics · 2026Article
- DNA methylation as a biomarker of prenatal exposures: current challenges and opportunities.Environmental epigenetics · 2026Review
- Isolation and characterization of Hofbauer cells from human term placentas.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
28 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundDNA methylation (DNAm) profiling has emerged as a powerful tool for characterizing the placental methylome. However, previous studies have focused primarily on whole placental tissue, which is a mixture of epigenetically distinct cell populations. Here, we present the first methylome-wide analysis of first trimester (n = 9) and term (n = 19) human placental samples of four cell populations: trophoblasts, Hofbauer cells, endothelial cells, and stromal cells, using the Illumina EPIC methylation array, which quantifies DNAm at > 850,000 CpGs.
resultsThe most distinct DNAm profiles were those of placental trophoblasts, which are central to many pregnancy-essential functions, and Hofbauer cells, which are a rare fetal-derived macrophage population. Cell-specific DNAm occurs at functionally-relevant genes, including genes associated with placental development and preeclampsia. Known placental-specific methylation marks, such as those associated with genomic imprinting, repetitive element hypomethylation, and placental partially methylated domains, were found to be more pronounced in trophoblasts and often absent in Hofbauer cells. Lastly, we characterize the cell composition and cell-specific DNAm dynamics across gestation.
conclusionsOur results provide a comprehensive analysis of DNAm in human placental cell types from first trimester and term pregnancies. This data will serve as a useful DNAm reference for future placental studies, and we provide access to this data via download from GEO (GSE159526), through interactive exploration from the web browser ( https://robinsonlab.shinyapps.io/Placental_Methylome_Browser/ ), and through the R package planet, which allows estimation of cell composition directly from placental DNAm data.
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