Investigating the role of DNA methylation in human growth disorders

在我们所有的细胞中，由DNA组成的基因控制着正常的成年发育。对这些基因的控制会影响婴儿在子宫中的生长情况。如果婴儿出生时非常小，他们可能会有脑损伤，这种不良生长的连锁反应通常会影响他们以后的健康。我们发现，修改所谓的？表观遗传的？生长基因的DNA变化会导致子宫内生长不良。我们将使用来自罕见的人类严重生长缺陷综合征的DNA样本和来自小婴儿的正常DNA样本来研究他们DNA的这些修饰。为了做到这一点，我们将使用新的和复杂的技术，可以告诉我们究竟如何这些？表观遗传的？改变影响生长基因表达。一旦我们确定了这些表观遗传标记，我们将能够设计生物标志物和诊断测试，用于治疗与严重胎儿生长问题相关的健康问题。

In all our cells our genes which are made up of DNA control normal development into adulthood. The control of these genes affects how well a baby grows in the womb. If a baby is born very small, they can have brain damage and the knock on effects of this poor growth can often affect their health in later life. We have found that modifications called ?epigenetic? changes to the DNA on growth genes can result in poor growth in the womb. Using DNA samples from rare human syndromes with severe growth defects and normal DNA samples from small babies we will study these modifications to their DNA. To do this we will use new and sophisticated technology that can tell us exactly how these ?epigenetic? changes effect growth gene expression. Once we have identified these epigenetic marks we will be able to design biomarkers and diagnostic tests for treatment of the health problems associated with severe fetal growth problems.