Speaker: David Martino, Group Leader, Clinical Epigenetics, Telethon Kids Institute, Australia

Abstract: Chronic respiratory diseases like asthma have early-life origins, and epidemiological studies suggest that perinatal exposures increase the likelihood of preschool wheeze and progression to asthma. Although the mechanisms are unclear, the interaction between early-life exposures and the genome is central in disease pathogenesis. The AERIAL study was established to investigate the developmental origins of childhood asthma phenotypes. This presentation focuses on the utility of amniotic epithelial cells as surrogate tissues for exploring DNA methylation mediators of disease risk. Matched amniotic and nasal epithelial samples were collected from AERIAL participants. DNA methylation was assayed using the TWIST human methylome panel. Early results suggest perinatal exposures biologically embed in DNA methylation profiles in a conserved portion of the epigenome in both tissues, demonstrating the utility of amniotic stem cells for prenatal programming studies.