FIGURE 2.

Genetic and developmental programming of fetal-derived immune cells. Perturbation of the maternal environment e.g., by nutrition, smoking, and infection, leads to the production of mediators such as cytokines and lipids that will lead to epigenetic alterations in EMP and thereby, chronic activation of EMP-derived immune cells after birth. This switch from a homeostatic to a pro-inflammatory state due to developmental programming may cause or contribute to different diseases. In addition to naturally occurring somatic mutations in proliferating EMP and their progeny, maternal-derived hazardous materials may lead to DNA damage, which could eventually lead to a change in transcriptional programs and chronic activation of tissue-resident immune cells. Created with BioRender.com.