# Biomarkers and Genes Associated with Placental Development and Function in Response to Environmental Pollution

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · 2020 · $623,441

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Many epidemiological investigations have associated exposure to traffic-derived air pollution from motor
vehicles, air toxins from industry, and other environmental toxins with measures of poor birth outcomes
consisting of preeclampsia (PE), preterm birth (PTB) and intra-uterine growth restriction (IUGR). These
conditions, which collectively constitute ischemic placental disease, correlate strongly with infant morbidity and
a host of adult diseases, ranging from coronary artery disease to cancer. Although it is widely believed that the
pathophysiological mechanisms leading to complications of ischemic placental disease and placental
insufficiency have similar biological origins, starting as early as defective placental implantation, to date there
are no predictive studies that prospectively examine placental function. Thus, non-invasive assessment and
prediction of normalcy versus aberrancy of placental function are lacking. Therefore, the overarching objective
of this proposal is to develop and evaluate a suite of exosomal micro-transcriptomic and transcriptomic
signatures (predictor) for predicting placental insufficiency. Moreover, we seek to use these novel signatures to
assess the impact of environmental pollution exposure on placental aberrancy/insufficiency and related
outcomes (PE, PTB and IUGR) (primary outcome). Our central hypothesis is that chronic exposure to
environmental pollution, independent of socio-economic status (SES), increases the risk of placental
insufficiency due to early gestational development of adverse placental function, and that these
outcomes can be predicted non-invasively by developing maternal blood derived placental-enriched
exosomal micro-transcriptomic and transcriptomic signatures. To test this hypothesis, our specific aims
are to: AIM 1: Develop non-invasively in maternal blood, placenta-derived exosomal micro-
transcriptomic and transcriptomic signatures that predict in-vivo placental function through all three
trimesters. AIM 2: Use the micro-transcriptomic and transcriptomic data from Aim 1 to predict
environmental pollution data collected during the course of this study. We will construct models to
predict the environmental pollution state based on these signatures, so that they may be used as proxy of the
pollution when this data is not available. AIM 3: Perform Epigenome Wide Association Studies using DNA
methylation from placental tissues of the same cohort. We will use our Reduced Representation Bisulfite
Sequencing to identify loci whose methylation is associated with placental insufficiency and environmental
exposures. These studies will help identify genes confirmed by transcriptomic analysis that may be useful in
future development of therapeutic interventions for women at high risk of placental insufficiency due to air
pollution exposures. Identification of molecular signatures that predict the presence of environmental pollution
and adverse pregnancy outcomes may beco...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9942495
- **Project number:** 5R01HD089714-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES
- **Principal Investigator:** Sherin U Devaskar
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $623,441
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-09-20 → 2022-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9942495

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9942495, Biomarkers and Genes Associated with Placental Development and Function in Response to Environmental Pollution (5R01HD089714-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9942495. Licensed CC0.

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