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Paternal obesity induces placental hypoxia and sex-specific impairments in placental vascularization and offspring metabolism†.

ABSTRACT: Paternal obesity predisposes offspring to metabolic dysfunction, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. We investigated whether this metabolic dysfunction is associated with changes in placental vascular development and is fueled by endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-mediated changes in fetal hepatic development. We also determined whether paternal obesity indirectly affects the in utero environment by disrupting maternal metabolic adaptations to pregnancy. Male mice fed a standard chow or high fat diet (60%kcal fat) for 8-10 weeks were time-mated with female mice to generate pregnancies and offspring. Glucose tolerance was evaluated in dams at mid-gestation (embryonic day (E) 14.5) and late gestation (E18.5). Hypoxia, angiogenesis, endocrine function, macronutrient transport, and ER stress markers were evaluated in E14.5 and E18.5 placentae and/or fetal livers. Maternal glucose tolerance was assessed at E14.5 and E18.5. Metabolic parameters were assessed in offspring at ~60 days of age. Paternal obesity did not alter maternal glucose tolerance but induced placental hypoxia and altered placental angiogenic markers, with the most pronounced effects in female placentae. Paternal obesity increased ER stress-related protein levels (ATF6 and PERK) in the fetal liver and altered hepatic expression of gluconeogenic factors at E18.5. Offspring of obese fathers were glucose intolerant and had impaired whole-body energy metabolism, with more pronounced effects in female offspring. Metabolic deficits in offspring due to paternal obesity may be mediated by sex-specific changes in placental vessel structure and integrity that contribute to placental hypoxia and may lead to poor fetal oxygenation and impairments in fetal metabolic signaling pathways in the liver.

SUBMITTER: Jazwiec PA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9382389 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Paternal obesity induces placental hypoxia and sex-specific impairments in placental vascularization and offspring metabolism†.

Jazwiec Patrycja A PA Patterson Violet S VS Ribeiro Tatiane A TA Yeo Erica E Kennedy Katherine M KM Mathias Paulo C F PCF Petrik Jim J JJ Sloboda Deborah M DM

Biology of reproduction 20220801 2

Paternal obesity predisposes offspring to metabolic dysfunction, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. We investigated whether this metabolic dysfunction is associated with changes in placental vascular development and is fueled by endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-mediated changes in fetal hepatic development. We also determined whether paternal obesity indirectly affects the in utero environment by disrupting maternal metabolic adaptations to pregnancy. Male mice fed a standard chow or ...[more]

PMID: 35377412

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Project description:Environmental challenges experienced by an organism can have multiple effects at an individual level, with recent work also suggesting these challenges may affect their unexposed offspring. In a time of rapid environmental change, understanding whether environmental challenges experienced by organisms could increase the fitness of future generations to survive these same stressors, is critically needed. Low dissolved oxygen is a common environmental challenge that aquatic organisms encounter, resulting in numerous physiological, phenotypic, and epigenetic changes. In this study, we use zebrafish (Danio rerio) as a model to investigate how paternal hypoxia experience impacts subsequent progeny. Males were exposed to moderate hypoxia (11-13 kPA) for 2 weeks, bred to create an F1 generation, and progeny underwent an acute hypoxia (0-1 kPA) tolerance assay. Using time to loss of equilibrium and loss of equilibrium frequency as measured of hypoxia resistance, we show that paternal exposure to hypoxia endow offspring with a greater tolerance to acute hypoxia, compared to offspring of unexposed males, though there are strong family x treatment effects. In addition to phenotypic alternations, we also investigated changes in gene expression in offspring. We conducted RNA-Seq on whole fry and detected 91 differentially expressed genes, including two hemoglobin genes that are significantly upregulated by more than 4-fold in the offspring of hypoxia exposed males. Moreover, the offspring which maintained equilibrium the longest showed the greatest upregulation in hemoglobin expression. Paternal exposures to physiological challenges are thus able to impact the phenotype and gene expression of their unexposed progeny. We conducted whole genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS) on the sperm of parental males to assess whether changes in progeny phenotype and gene expression are underpinned by changes in DNA methylation. While we observed coupling of methylation levels in the parental sperm and gene expression in progeny overall, we did not detect differential methylation at any of the differentially expressed genes, suggesting that another epigenetic mechanism is responsible for the observed changes in gene expression. Overall, our findings suggest that a ‘memory’ of past hypoxia exposure is maintained and that this environmentally induced information is transferred to subsequent generations, pre-acclimating progeny to cope with hypoxic conditions.

Dataset Information

Paternal obesity induces placental hypoxia and sex-specific impairments in placental vascularization and offspring metabolism†.

Publications

Paternal obesity induces placental hypoxia and sex-specific impairments in placental vascularization and offspring metabolism†.

Similar Datasets

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