*Review* **The Role of Epigenetics in Placental Development and the Etiology of Preeclampsia**

**Clara Apicella** †**, Camino S. M. Ruano** †**, Céline Méhats, Francisco Miralles and Daniel Vaiman \***

Institut Cochin, U1016 INSERM, UMR8104 CNRS, Université Paris Descartes, 24 rue du faubourg St Jacques, 75014 Paris, France; clara.apicella@inserm.fr (C.A.); camino.ruano@inserm.fr (C.S.M.R.);

celine.mehats@inserm.fr (C.M.); francisco.miralles@inserm.fr (F.M.)

**\*** Correspondence: daniel.vaiman@inserm.fr; Tel.: +33-1-4441-2301; Fax: +33-1-4441-2302

† These authors contributed equally to this work.

Received: 3 May 2019; Accepted: 3 June 2019; Published: 11 June 2019

**Abstract:** In this review, we comprehensively present the function of epigenetic regulations in normal placental development as well as in a prominent disease of placental origin, preeclampsia (PE). We describe current progress concerning the impact of DNA methylation, non-coding RNA (with a special emphasis on long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) and microRNA (miRNA)) and more marginally histone post-translational modifications, in the processes leading to normal and abnormal placental function. We also explore the potential use of epigenetic marks circulating in the maternal blood flow as putative biomarkers able to prognosticate the onset of PE, as well as classifying it according to its severity. The correlation between epigenetic marks and impacts on gene expression is systematically evaluated for the di fferent epigenetic marks analyzed.

**Keywords:** preeclampsia; epigenetics; DNA methylation; non coding RNAs; miRNAs; histone post translational modifications; HOX genes; H19; miR-210
