Placental mRNA Expression data from pregnant smokers and non-smokers

We used microarrays to determine the transcriptional profiles of placental tissue obtained from women who smoked during pregnancy and from women who did not smoke during pregnancy. Fetal growth restriction is a frequent complication in mothers who smoke cigarettes during pregnancy. To evaluate novel pathways that regulate fetal growth affected by mothers who smoke, we isolated placental mRNA from smoking mothers with severe fetal growth restriction and compared them by microarray analysis to non-smoking mothers with appropriately grown fetuses. Bioinformatics analysis revealed distinct transcriptional patterns in the placentas of smoking mothers when compared to placentas from control non-smoking women. Analyses of the top upregulated and downregulated genes revealed several gene products such as secreted frizzled related protein 1 that was markedly upregulated in the placentas from women who smoked cigarettes during pregnancy. Total RNA was isolated from placental specimens obtained at time of delivery. RNA was hybridized to Affymetrix arrays, and analyzed.