Perinatal and Developmental Epigenetics

Section I: The ever-growing complexity of epigenetic regulation of gene expression<br>1. Epigenetic regulation of gene expression: An overview of classical and recently discovered novel players: -Role of DNA methylation, Role of Histone modifications, Role of non-coding RNAs<br>2. Epigenetic regulation of transposable elements and their impact on developmental processes<br>3. Epigenetic regulation of germ cells<br>4. Epigenetic regulation of cis-regulatory elements and transcription factors during development<br>5. Genomic imprinting and developmental physiology: Intrauterine growth and postnatal period<br>6. Metabolic regulation of epigenetic processes<br>7. Role of RNA epigenetics in development<br><br>Section II: Epigenetic programming of the placenta regulates short-term and long-term health outcomes<br>8. Epigenetic regulation of placental function<br>9. Role of placenta in developmental programming of sex-specific adult outcomes<br>10. Epigenetic changes induced by Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) in the placenta and its effect on developmental outcomes<br><br>Section III: Epigenetics, hormones, sex and developmental programming<br>11. Epigenetic and hormone interaction and effect on gene regulation during prenatal and early postnatal life<br>12. Role of epigenetics in shaping the sex difference in immune function during development<br>13. Role of epigenetics in shaping sex differences in brain development and behavior<br>14. Role of epigenetics in shaping sex differences in heart development and later life cardiovascular disease risk<br><br>Section IV: Epigenetic programming by adverse perinatal influences<br>15. Early life endocrine disruptors exposure and epigenetic programming<br>16. Early life stress exposure and epigenetic programming<br>17. Early life nutrition and epigenetic programming<br>18. Early life air pollution exposure and epigenetic programming<br>19. Early life substance abuse and epigenetic programming<br><br>Section V: Advancing translational epigenetic research<br>21. Modelling early life adversity in the laboratory –: Animal models, their advantages and challenges in extrapolating findings from animal studies to humans<br>22. Clinical evidence of developmental programming due to early life exposures and long-term effects: Implications for public health<br>23. Phenotypic plasticity: Adaptive vs Maladaptive response and epigenetic changes<br>24. Epigenomics: A road to genome-wide characterization of epigenetic changes during development and identifying future individuals at risk of disease susceptibility<br><br>Section VI: Pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches to reprogram the developmental programming to improve the health outcomes<br>26. Epigenetic signatures as biomarkers of early life experiences<br>27. Environmental enrichment and its effect on modifying the epigenetic changes induced by early life adversity<br>28. Dietary targeting of epigenome and its effect on early life adverse influences<br>29. Early postnatal maternal care and epigenetic programming of HPA axis activity<br>30. Emerging field of epigenetic editing: Implication for translational purposes for diseases with developmental origin and sex bias