Project description:Suboptimal intrauterine nutrition predisposes the fetus to central obesity and metabolic syndrome in adult life, suggesting nutritional programming of the fat distribution. However, the underlying mechanisms are not elucidated. We hypothesized that prenatal nutritional deprivation leads to stimulation of adipogenesis, as an adaptive mechanism, in a depot-dependent manner. The induction of adipogenesis is most enhanced in the subcutaneous lower-body depots, followed by the subcutaneous upper-body and visceral adipose tissue depots. Stimulation of adipogenesis may lead to an early consumption of the stem cell pool, and thus, may impair adipose tissue expandability postnatally, which may lead to differences in regional adipose tissue growth. We tested this hypothesis by analyzing global gene expression to identify expression patterns in subcutaneous abdominal, subcutaneous femoral, and omental adipose depots of baboon fetuses that have been altered by nutritional maternal deprivation. Adipose tissue was collected from baboon fetuses at 165 dG from mothers fed control or 30% nutrient-restricted diets (three females and one male in each group). 24 samples, each consisted of pooled total RNA from triplicate wells (6-well plate).
Project description:We have developed a baboon nonhuman primate (NHP) model of maternal nutrient reduction during fetal development (30% global maternal nutrient reduction, MNR) to evaluate the impact of reduced nutrient availability on primate fetal development. We reported (Antonow-Schlorke et al. PNAS, 2011) that MNR induced major cerebral developmental disturbances at mid gestation (0.5G); however, the impact of MNR at late gestation (0.9G) and the mechanisms mediating these effects have not been determined. We hypothesized that MNR alters developmental trajectories of the fetal prefrontal cortex in the late gestation via miRNA regulation of key transcriptional and translational signaling pathways. Pregnant baboons were fed either ad libitum (control; CON; females n=3; males n=3) or a globally reduced diet (70% of controls; females n=3; males n=3) from 0.16G through 0.9G that produces IUGR (14% reduction in fetal weight). Fetuses were removed by Cesarean section at 0.9G, and prefrontal cortex (PFC) sections collected for analysis. Transcriptome (gene arrays) and small transcriptome (small RNA-Seq) analyses of fetal PFC were performed and gene and miRNA profiles were compared between MNR and CON. We present for the first time transcriptome (GSE42756) and small RNA transcriptome expression profiles of the fetal baboon PFC at 0.9G. Pathway analysis showed that MNR had sex-specific effects on key cellular signaling pathways. We conclude that moderate maternal global nutrient reduction during pregnancy can alter signaling pathways related to nutrient sensing and cell proliferation in the late gestation PFC. In addition, inverse expression of miRNAs known to target genes in these pathways suggests that miRNA mechanisms play a role in these changes.
Project description:To investigate the impact of maternal nutrient restriction on gene expression in the fetal liver, we profiled gene expression in the liver of Japanese Black fetal calves in high and low nutrient condition of pregnant maternal cows .
Project description:Suboptimal intrauterine nutrition predisposes the fetus to central obesity and metabolic syndrome in adult life, suggesting nutritional programming of the fat distribution. However, the underlying mechanisms are not elucidated. We hypothesized that prenatal nutritional deprivation leads to stimulation of adipogenesis, as an adaptive mechanism, in a depot-dependent manner. The induction of adipogenesis is most enhanced in the subcutaneous lower-body depots, followed by the subcutaneous upper-body and visceral adipose tissue depots. Stimulation of adipogenesis may lead to an early consumption of the stem cell pool, and thus, may impair adipose tissue expandability postnatally, which may lead to differences in regional adipose tissue growth. We tested this hypothesis by analyzing global gene expression to identify expression patterns in subcutaneous abdominal, subcutaneous femoral, and omental adipose depots of baboon fetuses that have been altered by nutritional maternal deprivation. Adipose tissue was collected from baboon fetuses at 165 dG from mothers fed control or 30% nutrient-restricted diets (three females and one male in each group).
Project description:Poor maternal nutrition causes intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR); however, its effects on fetal cardiac development are unclear. We have developed a baboon model of moderate maternal undernutrition, leading to IUGR. We hypothesized that the IUGR affects fetal cardiac structure and metabolism. Six control pregnant baboons ate ad-libitum (CTRL)) or 70% CTRL from 0.16 of gestation (G). Fetuses were euthanized at C-section at 0.9G under general anesthesia. Male but not female IUGR fetuses showed left ventricular fibrosis inversely correlated with birth weight. Expression of extracellular matrix protein TSP-1 was increased (p<0.05) in male IUGR. Expression of cardiac fibrotic markers TGFß, SMAD3 and ALK-1 were downregulated in male IUGRs with no difference in females. Autophagy was present in male IUGR evidenced by upregulation of ATG7 expression and lipidation LC3B. Global miRNA expression profiling revealed 56 annotated and novel cardiac miRNAs exclusively dysregulated in female IUGR, and 38 cardiac miRNAs were exclusively dysregulated in males (p<0.05). Fifteen (CTRL) and 23 (IUGR) miRNAs, were differentially expressed between males and females (p<0.05) suggesting sexual dimorphism, which can be at least partially explained by differential expression of upstream transcription factors (e.g. HNF4a, and NF?B p50). Lipidomics analysis of fetal cardiac tissue exhibited a net increase in diacylglycerol and plasmalogens and a decrease in triglycerides and phosphatidylcholines. In summary, IUGR resulting from decreased maternal nutrition is associated with sex-dependent dysregulations in cardiac structure, miRNA expression, and lipid metabolism. If these changes persist postnatally, they may program offspring for higher later life cardiac risk.
Project description:To investigate the impact of maternal nutrient restriction on skleletal muscle gene expression, we profiled gene expression in longissimus muscle of Japanese Black fetal calves in high and low nutrient condition of pregnant maternal cows .
Project description:Inherent depot- and age-dependent preadipocyte characteristics may contribute to age-related fat redistribution. Both aging and depot origin affect preadipocyte replication and adipogenesis. To define responsible mechanisms, we analyzed genome-wide expression profiles in epididymal (E) and perirenal (P) preadipocytes cultured from young (3 month) and old (30m) rats. Differences between depots were distinct from and more dramatic than those that occur with aging. Keywords: cell type and age comparison