The loopy placenta: defining higher-order chromatin contacts in this essential developmental tissue

Previous work has revealed that the human placenta has a unique epigenome compared with somatic tissues. This developmentally important organ has relatively low levels of DNA methylation which is dynamic during gestations. In order to understand the consequence of such global hypomethylation on additional epigenetic layers, it is crucial to dissect chromatin accessibility profiles in different cells and compare them with histone modifications and DNA methylation. This project will involve generating global expression and chromatin accessibility profiles in placenta samples at both bulk and at single-cell resolution using RNA-seq and ATAC-seq technologies. Bioinformatic deconvolution of transcriptome and accessibility datasets, combined with single-cell multi-omic analysis, will help resolve the heterogeneity that exists in this tissue across gestation and is crucial to appreciating tissue function in health and disease.