Classical gene targeting has identified many genes important for fetal and placental development. Null mutation of these genes may lead to fetal growth restriction, malformation or embryonic death. Growth restriction of epigenetic basis can predispose to adult-onset diseases. The mechanisms underlying this process, termed 'fetal programming', are beginning to be understood.

Contents 1. Introduction 2. Gene expression for uterine proteins and nutrient transporters 2.1. Temporal and spatial changes in steroid hormone receptors in the uterus during the peri-implantation period of pregnancy 3. Pregnancy recognition 3.1. Luteotrophic versus antiluteolytic signaling for pregnancy recognition 3.2. Corpus luteum formation and regression 3.3. Pregnancy recognition signals ...

Fetal programming is an ontogenetic phenomenon of increasing interest to human biologists. Because the downstream consequences of fetal programming have clear impacts on specific life-history traits (e.g., age at first reproduction and the general age-pattern of reproductive investments), a number of authors have raised the question of the adaptive significance of fetal programming. In this pap...

Abstract Fetal adaptations to nutrition in utero lead long-term effects on fetal growth and postnatal performance. Although required minute amounts, minerals play an essential role programming, likely through epigenetic mechanisms. Thus, changes the embryonic epigenome modulate gene transcription and, consequently, differentiation, growth, development of cells tissues. Despite growing knowledge...

2066 Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) constitute a particular challenge during pregnancy because physiological changes and fetal demands create an additional burden and fetal safety concerns limit treatment options. Other articles of this series review the physiological changes during pregnancy, the management of cardiovascular conditions most likely to endanger maternal and fetal health, and the...

Maternal mental disorders over pregnancy show a clear influence on child development. This review is focused on the possible mechanisms by which maternal mental disorders influence fetal development via programming effects. This field is complex since mental health symptoms during pregnancy vary in type, timing and severity and maternal psychological distress is often accompanied by higher rate...

Human and animal studies show that suboptimal intrauterine environments lead to fetal programming, predisposing offspring to disease in later life. Maternal obesity has been shown to program offspring for cardiovascular disease (CVD), diabetes, and obesity. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, noncoding RNA molecules that act as key regulators of numerous cellular processes. Compelling evidence links ...

Stress or elevated glucocorticoids during sensitive windows of fetal development increase the risk of neuropsychiatric disorders in adult rodents and humans, a phenomenon known as glucocorticoid programming. 11β-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 2 (11β-HSD2), which catalyses rapid inactivation of glucocorticoids in the placenta, controls access of maternal glucocorticoids to the fetal compartme...

The impressive program of research from the DiPietro laboratory succeeds in its aim to document the ontogeny of human fetal neurobehavioral development. From studies of great depth and breadth, and wielding creative methods of assessment, DiPietro et al. open a window into the largely inaccessible developing human fetal brain. This commentary, with reference to the seminal cardiovascular studie...

Nutrition is the major intrauterine environmental factor that alters expression of the fetal genome and may have lifelong consequences. This phenomenon, termed “fetal programming,” has led to the recent theory of “fetal origins of adult disease.” Namely, alterations in fetal nutrition and endocrine status may result in developmental adaptations that permanently change the structure, physiology,...