RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Maternal Circulating MiRNAs That Predict Infant FASD Outcomes Influence Placental Maturation JF bioRxiv FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory SP 409854 DO 10.1101/409854 A1 Alexander M. Tseng A1 Amanda H. Mahnke A1 Alan B. Wells A1 Nihal A. Salem A1 Andrea M. Allan A1 Victoria H.J. Roberts A1 Natali Newman A1 Nicole A.R. Walter A1 Christopher D. Kroenke A1 Kathleen A. Grant A1 Lisa K. Akison A1 Karen M. Moritz A1 Christina D. Chambers A1 Rajesh C. Miranda A1 CIFASD YR 2019 UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/02/10/409854.abstract AB Prenatal Alcohol exposure (PAE), like other pregnancy complications, can result in placental insufficiency and fetal growth restriction, though the linking causal mechanisms are unclear. We previously identified 11 gestationally-elevated maternal circulating miRNAs that predicted infant growth deficits following PAE. Here, we investigated whether these HEamiRNAs contribute to the pathology of PAE, by inhibiting trophoblast epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), a pathway critical for placental development. We now report for the first time, that PAE inhibits expression of placental pro-EMT pathway members in both rodents and primates, and that HEamiRNAs collectively, but not individually, mediate placental EMT inhibition. HEamiRNAs collectively, but not individually, also inhibited cell proliferation and the EMT pathway in cultured trophoblasts, while inducing cell stress, and following trophoblast syncytialization, aberrant endocrine maturation. Moreover, a single intra-vascular administration of the pooled murine-expressed HEamiRNAs, to pregnant mice, decreased placental and fetal growth and inhibited expression of pro-EMT transcripts in placenta. Our data suggests that HEamiRNAs collectively interfere with placental development, contributing to the pathology of PAE, and perhaps also, to other causes of fetal growth restriction.Summary Maternal gestational circulating microRNAs, predictive of adverse infant outcomes including growth deficits, following prenatal alcohol exposure, contribute to placental pathology by impairing the EMT pathway in trophoblasts.