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Life
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Fetal Life: Normal and Abnormal Development
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Fetal Life: Normal and Abnormal Development

A special issue of Life (ISSN 2075-1729). This special issue belongs to the section "Reproductive and Developmental Biology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (18 November 2022) | Viewed by 24044

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Zeev Weiner

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Rambam Health Care Campus, Rambam Medical Center, Technion – Israel institute of Technology, Haifa 310960, Israel
Interests: fetal physiology; fetal imaging; fetal malformations; fetal development; early fetal anatomy scan
Dr. Ron Beloosesky

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Rambam Health Care Campus, Technion – Israel institute of Technology, Haifa 3109601, Israel
Interests: fetal physiology; fetal pathophysiology; fetal treatment

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue is dedicated to fetal life, a unique and crucial event that affects postnatal life from birth to death. Although most fetuses have an uneventful intrauterine life, there are unfortunately cases of abnormal fetal development and intrauterine events that dictate an unfortunate postnatal life. Congenital malformations that occur during embryogenesis are an excellent example of intrauterine events disturbing normal life. Another example of an adverse event is preterm delivery. This last mentioned event is responsible for prematurity affecting brain development and function. The most novel and interesting concept affecting life is the concept of fetal programing. It is clear today that the intrauterine environment affects postnatal life. For example, maternal starvation changes the genetic expression of the fetus through epigenetic mechanisms affecting postnatal life for generations.

We dedicated this edition to fetal life, describing normal development and unfortunate events that affect postnatal life.

Prof. Dr. Zeev Weiner
Dr. Ron Beloosesky
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Life is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • embryonal development
  • fetal development
  • congenital malformations
  • preterm labor
  • fetal programing
  • fetal treatment

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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14 pages, 2272 KiB  
Article
Gene Dysregulation in the Adult Rat Paraventricular Nucleus and Amygdala by Prenatal Exposure to Dexamethasone
by Tyler R. Rivet, Christine Lalonde and T. C. Tai
Life 2022, 12(7), 1077; https://doi.org/10.3390/life12071077 - 19 Jul 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1805
Abstract
Fetal programming is the concept that maternal stressors during critical periods of fetal development can alter offspring phenotypes postnatally. Excess glucocorticoids can interact with the fetus to effect genetic and epigenetic changes implicated in adverse developmental outcomes. The present study investigates how chronic [...] Read more.
Fetal programming is the concept that maternal stressors during critical periods of fetal development can alter offspring phenotypes postnatally. Excess glucocorticoids can interact with the fetus to effect genetic and epigenetic changes implicated in adverse developmental outcomes. The present study investigates how chronic exposure to the synthetic glucocorticoid dexamethasone during late gestation alters the expression of genes related to behavior in brain areas relevant to the regulation and function of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis. Pregnant Wistar Kyoto rats received subcutaneous injections of dexamethasone (100 μg/kg) daily from gestational day 15–21 or vehicle only as sham controls. The amygdala and paraventricular nucleus (PVN) were micro-punched to extract mRNA for reverse transcription and quantitative polymerase chain reaction for the analysis of the expression of specific genes. In the PVN, the expression of the glucocorticoid receptor NR3C1 was downregulated in female rats in response to programming. The expression of CACNA1C encoding the Cav1.2 pore subunit of L-type voltage-gated calcium channels was downregulated in male and female rats prenatally exposed to dexamethasone. Collectively, the results suggest that prenatal exposure to elevated levels of glucocorticoids plays a role in the dysregulation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis and potentially learning and memory by altering the expression of specific genes within the amygdala and PVN. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fetal Life: Normal and Abnormal Development)
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13 pages, 1362 KiB  
Article
Fetal Hippocampal Connectivity Shows Dissociable Associations with Maternal Cortisol and Self-Reported Distress during Pregnancy
by Cassandra L. Hendrix, Harini Srinivasan, Integra Feliciano, Justin M. Carré and Moriah E. Thomason
Life 2022, 12(7), 943; https://doi.org/10.3390/life12070943 - 23 Jun 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1852
Abstract
Maternal stress can shape long-term child neurodevelopment beginning in utero. One mechanism by which stress is transmitted from mothers to their offspring is via alterations in maternal cortisol, which can cross the placenta and bind to glucocorticoid receptor-rich regions in the fetal brain, [...] Read more.
Maternal stress can shape long-term child neurodevelopment beginning in utero. One mechanism by which stress is transmitted from mothers to their offspring is via alterations in maternal cortisol, which can cross the placenta and bind to glucocorticoid receptor-rich regions in the fetal brain, such as the hippocampus. Although prior studies have demonstrated associations between maternal prenatal stress and cortisol levels with child brain development, we lack information about the extent to which these associations originate prior to birth and prior to confounding postnatal influences. Pregnant mothers (n = 77) completed questionnaires about current perceived stress, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms, provided three to four salivary cortisol samples, and completed a fetal resting-state functional MRI scan during their second or third trimester of pregnancy (mean gestational age = 32.8 weeks). Voxelwise seed-based connectivity analyses revealed that higher prenatal self-reported distress and higher maternal cortisol levels corresponded to dissociable differences in fetal hippocampal functional connectivity. Specifically, self-reported distress was correlated with increased positive functional coupling between the hippocampus and right posterior parietal association cortex, while higher maternal cortisol was associated with stronger positive hippocampal coupling with the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and left medial prefrontal cortex. Moreover, the association between maternal distress, but not maternal cortisol, on fetal hippocampal connectivity was moderated by fetal sex. These results suggest that prenatal stress and peripheral cortisol levels may shape fetal hippocampal development through unique mechanisms. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fetal Life: Normal and Abnormal Development)
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13 pages, 2363 KiB  
Article
The Emergence of Embryonic Myosin Heavy Chain during Branchiomeric Muscle Development
by Imadeldin Yahya, Marion Böing, Dorit Hockman, Beate Brand-Saberi and Gabriela Morosan-Puopolo
Life 2022, 12(6), 785; https://doi.org/10.3390/life12060785 - 25 May 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1749
Abstract
A prerequisite for discovering the properties and therapeutic potential of branchiomeric muscles is an understanding of their fate determination, pattering and differentiation. Although the expression of differentiation markers such as myosin heavy chain (MyHC) during trunk myogenesis has been more intensively studied, little [...] Read more.
A prerequisite for discovering the properties and therapeutic potential of branchiomeric muscles is an understanding of their fate determination, pattering and differentiation. Although the expression of differentiation markers such as myosin heavy chain (MyHC) during trunk myogenesis has been more intensively studied, little is known about its expression in the developing branchiomeric muscle anlagen. To shed light on this, we traced the onset of MyHC expression in the facial and neck muscle anlagen by using the whole-mount in situ hybridization between embryonic days E9.5 and E15.5 in the mouse. Unlike trunk muscle, the facial and neck muscle anlagen express MyHC at late stages. Within the branchiomeric muscles, our results showed variation in the emergence of MyHC expression. MyHC was first detected in the first arch-derived muscle anlagen, while its expression in the second arch-derived muscle and non-somitic neck muscle began at a later time point. Additionally, we show that non-ectomesenchymal neural crest invasion of the second branchial arch is delayed compared with that of the first brachial arch in chicken embryos. Thus, our findings reflect the timing underlying branchiomeric muscle differentiation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fetal Life: Normal and Abnormal Development)
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Review

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16 pages, 2069 KiB  
Review
Discrepancies in Embryonic Staging: Towards a Gold Standard
by Sander Flierman, Melanie Tijsterman, Melek Rousian and Bernadette S. de Bakker
Life 2023, 13(5), 1084; https://doi.org/10.3390/life13051084 - 26 Apr 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 4768
Abstract
For over half a century, the Carnegie staging system has been used for the unification of chronology in human embryo development. Despite the system’s establishment as a “universal” system, Carnegie staging reference charts display a high level of variation. To establish a clear [...] Read more.
For over half a century, the Carnegie staging system has been used for the unification of chronology in human embryo development. Despite the system’s establishment as a “universal” system, Carnegie staging reference charts display a high level of variation. To establish a clear understanding for embryologists and medical professionals, we aimed to answer the following question: does a gold standard of Carnegie staging exist, and if so, which set of proposed measures/characteristics would it include? We aimed to provide a clear overview of the variations in published Carnegie staging charts to compare and analyze these differences and propose potential explanatory factors. A review of the literature was performed, wherein 113 publications were identified and screened based on title and abstract. Twenty-six relevant titles and abstracts were assessed based on the full text. After exclusion, nine remaining publications were critically appraised. We observed consistent variations in data sets, especially regarding embryonic age, varying as large as 11 days between publications. Similarly, for embryonic length, large variations were present. These large variations are possibly attributable to sampling differences, developing technology, and differences in data collection. Based on the reviewed studies, we propose the Carnegie staging system of Prof. Hill as a gold standard amongst the available data sets in the literature. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fetal Life: Normal and Abnormal Development)
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17 pages, 2717 KiB  
Review
Human Heart Morphogenesis: A New Vision Based on In Vivo Labeling and Cell Tracking
by Laura Villavicencio-Guzmán, Concepción Sánchez-Gómez, Ricardo Jaime-Cruz, Tania Cristina Ramírez-Fuentes, Carlos César Patiño-Morales and Marcela Salazar-García
Life 2023, 13(1), 165; https://doi.org/10.3390/life13010165 - 06 Jan 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2910
Abstract
Despite the extensive information available on the different genetic, epigenetic, and molecular features of cardiogenesis, the origin of congenital heart defects remains unknown. Most genetic and molecular studies have been conducted outside the context of the progressive anatomical and histological changes in the [...] Read more.
Despite the extensive information available on the different genetic, epigenetic, and molecular features of cardiogenesis, the origin of congenital heart defects remains unknown. Most genetic and molecular studies have been conducted outside the context of the progressive anatomical and histological changes in the embryonic heart, which is one of the reasons for the limited knowledge of the origins of congenital heart diseases. We integrated the findings of descriptive studies on human embryos and experimental studies on chick, rat, and mouse embryos. This research is based on the new dynamic concept of heart development and the existence of two heart fields. The first field corresponds to the straight heart tube, into which splanchnic mesodermal cells from the second heart field are gradually recruited. The overall aim was to create a new vision for the analysis, diagnosis, and regionalized classification of congenital defects of the heart and great arteries. In addition to highlighting the importance of genetic factors in the development of congenital heart disease, this study provides new insights into the composition of the straight heart tube, the processes of twisting and folding, and the fate of the conus in the development of the right ventricle and its outflow tract. The new vision, based on in vivo labeling and cell tracking and enhanced by models such as gastruloids and organoids, has contributed to a better understanding of important errors in cardiac morphogenesis, which may lead to several congenital heart diseases. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fetal Life: Normal and Abnormal Development)
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37 pages, 5741 KiB  
Review
Fetal Brain Development: Regulating Processes and Related Malformations
by Zvi Leibovitz, Tally Lerman-Sagie and Leila Haddad
Life 2022, 12(6), 809; https://doi.org/10.3390/life12060809 - 29 May 2022
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 9888
Abstract
This paper describes the contemporary state of knowledge regarding processes that regulate normal development of the embryonic–fetal central nervous system (CNS). The processes are described according to the developmental timetable: dorsal induction, ventral induction, neurogenesis, neuronal migration, post-migration neuronal development, and cortical organization. [...] Read more.
This paper describes the contemporary state of knowledge regarding processes that regulate normal development of the embryonic–fetal central nervous system (CNS). The processes are described according to the developmental timetable: dorsal induction, ventral induction, neurogenesis, neuronal migration, post-migration neuronal development, and cortical organization. We review the current literature on CNS malformations associated with these regulating processes. We specifically address neural tube defects, holoprosencephaly, malformations of cortical development (including microcephaly, megalencephaly, lissencephaly, cobblestone malformations, gray matter heterotopia, and polymicrogyria), disorders of the corpus callosum, and posterior fossa malformations. Fetal ventriculomegaly, which frequently accompanies these disorders, is also reviewed. Each malformation is described with reference to the etiology, genetic causes, prenatal sonographic imaging, associated anomalies, differential diagnosis, complimentary diagnostic studies, clinical interventions, neurodevelopmental outcome, and life quality. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fetal Life: Normal and Abnormal Development)
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