Project description:Maternal vitamins and micronutrients during gestational periods have profound impact on the developmemt of newborns as well as influence susceptibility to chronic conditions. Folic acid is indicated to women during pregnancies to prevent occurrence of neural tube defects in infants. Recently, evidence is emerging of the epigenetic effects of folic acid. Since epigenetic changes are crucial in developing fetus, we investigated the effect of maternal higher folic acid supplementation on the gene expression in offspring brains to identify if brain development may be affected. Our results revealed that maternal exposure of higher dose FA diet during gestation dysregulates expression of several genes in the cerebellum of both male and female pups. Dysregulated genes included several transcriptional factors, imprinted genes, neurodevelopmental genes and genes associated with autism spectrum disorder.
Project description:Maternal vitamins and micronutrients during gestational periods have profound impact on the developmemt of newborns as well as influence susceptibility to chronic conditions. Folic acid is indicated to women during pregnancies to prevent occurrence of neural tube defects in infants. Recently, evidence is emerging of the epigenetic effects of folic acid. Since epigenetic changes are crucial in developing fetus, we investigated the effect of maternal higher folic acid supplementation on the gene expression in offspring brains to identify if brain development may be affected. Our results revealed that maternal exposure of higher dose FA diet during gestation dysregulates expression of several genes in the cerebellum of both male and female pups. Dysregulated genes included several transcriptional factors, imprinted genes, neurodevelopmental genes and genes associated with autism spectrum disorder. Adult, 8- to 10-week-old C57BL/6J mice were used in all the experiments and handled according to the protocol reviewed and approved by the Institute for Basic Research Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. One week prior to mating and throughout the pregnancy two groups of female mice were fed with custom AIN-93G amino acidM-bM-^@M-^Sbased diet (Research Diet, Inc. New-Brunswick, NJ), which contained folic acid (FA) at 2mg/kg and 20 mg/kg diet. At postnatal day one (P1), from FA at 2 mg/kg group: male pupsM-bM-^@M-^Y n=3 and female pupsM-bM-^@M-^Y n=3 were sacrificed by cervical dislocation and cerebellum tissues were collected. From FA at 20 mg/kg group: male pupsM-bM-^@M-^Y n=6 and female pups n=6 were similarly processed. All tissues were snapped frozen and stored at -80M-BM-0C until downstream analysis was performed.
Project description:Folic acid supplements prior to and during gestation are recommended and necessary to prevent neural tube defects in developing embryos. But there are also studies suggesting possible adverse effects of high-dose folic acid supplementation. Here, we address whether maternal dietary folic acid supplementation at 40 mg/kg chow (FD), restricted to a period prior to conception, affects gene expression in the offspring generation.
Project description:Growing evidence supports the hypothesis that the in utero environment can have profound implications for fetal development and for offspring health in later life. Current theory suggests that conditions experienced in utero prepare, or ‘programme’, the fetus for its anticipated post-natal environment. The mechanisms responsible for these programming events are poorly understood but are likely to involve gene expression changes. Folate is essential for normal fetal development and inadequate maternal folate supply during pregnancy has long term adverse effects on the offspring. We tested the hypothesis that inadequate folate supply during pregnancy alters offspring programming through altered gene expression. Female C57BL/6J mice were fed diets containing 2 mg folic acid/kg or 0.4 mg folic acid/kg for 4 weeks before mating and throughout pregnancy. At 17.5 day gestation, genome-wide gene expression in fetal liver and placenta of male offspring was measured by microarray analysis. In the fetal liver, 989 genes (555 up-regulated, 434 down-regulated) were expressed differentially in response to maternal folate depletion, with 460 genes expressed differentially (250 up-regulated, 255 down-regulated) in the placenta. Only 25 differentially expressed genes were common between organs, revealing that maternal folate intake during pregnancy influences fetal gene expression in a highly organ specific manner which, we propose, reflects prioritised protection of essential organ-specific functions.
Project description:We determined the effects of excess folic acid supplementation (5x recommendation) on maternal and fetal offspring metabolic health. Using a mouse (female C57BL/6J) model of gestational dibetes (GDM; 45% kcal fat diet) and control mice (10% kcal diet) we show that folic acid supplementation increased weight gain and fat mass in both GDM and control mice but improved insulin sensitivity in GDM mice and worsened insulin sensitivity in control mice. We found no unmetabolized folic acid in liver from supplemented mice suggesting the metabolic effects of folic acid supplementation may not be due to unmetabolized folic acid. Male fetal (gestational day 18.5) offspring from folic acid supplemented dams (GDM and control) had greater beta cell mass and density than those from unsupplemented dams; this was not observed in female offspring. Differential sex-specific hepatic gene expression profiles were observed in the offspring from supplemented dams but this differed between GDM and controls. Our findings suggest that folic acid supplementation affects insulin sensitivity in female mice, but is dependent on their metabolic phenotype, and has sex-specific effects on offspring pancreas and liver.
Project description:Studies have indicated that altered maternal micronutrients and vitamins influence the development and susceptibility of newborns to chronic diseases. Among these, folic acid (FA) plays a key role in the synthesis and repair of DNA, along with maintenance of epigenetic DNA methylation. Deficiency of FA has been associated with the pathogenesis of neural tube defects. Since FA can modulate DNA methylation and affect gene expression, we investigated the effect of gestational FA supplementation on the expression of genes in the offspring brain. Our results suggest that a maternal ten-fold increase in FA supplementation alters the expression and dysregulates a number of genes in the offspring brain, including many involved in development. While a number of genes that were dysregulated were common to both male and female pups, there were sex differences in gene expression changes.
Project description:Early life exposures are critical in fetal programming and may influence function and health in later life. Adequate maternal folate consumption during pregnancy is essential for healthy fetal development and long-term offspring health. The mechanisms underlying fetal programming are poorly understood, but are likely to involve gene regulation. Epigenetic marks, including DNA methylation, regulate gene expression and are modifiable by folate supply. We observed before transcriptional changes in fetal liver in response to maternal folate depletion and hypothesised that these changes are due to altered gene promoter methylation. Female C57BL/6J mice were fed diets containing 2âmg or 0.4âmg folic acid/kg for 4âweeks before mating and throughout pregnancy. At 17.5 day gestation, genome-wide gene expression and promoter methylation were measured by microarray analysis in male fetal livers.
Project description:Studies have indicated that altered maternal micronutrients and vitamins influence the development and susceptibility of newborns to chronic diseases. Among these, folic acid (FA) plays a key role in the synthesis and repair of DNA, along with maintenance of epigenetic DNA methylation. Deficiency of FA has been associated with the pathogenesis of neural tube defects. Since FA can modulate DNA methylation and affect gene expression, we investigated the effect of gestational FA supplementation on the expression of genes in the offspring brain. Our results suggest that a maternal ten-fold increase in FA supplementation alters the expression and dysregulates a number of genes in the offspring brain, including many involved in development. While a number of genes that were dysregulated were common to both male and female pups, there were sex differences in gene expression changes. C57BL/6J female mice were separated into two groups of ten mice and supplemented with a custom diet. One week prior to mating the low-dose group of female mice were fed a custom AIN-93G amino acidM-bM-^@M-^Sbased diet (Research Diet, Inc. New-Brunswick, NJ), with FA at 0.4 mg/kg, while the high-dose group received FA at 4 mg/kg diet. Tissues from the cerebral hemisphere of three independent pups of same gender were pooled together. A total of three microarray gene expression studies have been performed (0.4mg/kg or 4mg/kg both male and female) and the mean was used for comparison.
Project description:The dynamic patterning of DNA and histone methylation during oocyte development presents a potentially susceptible time for epigenetic disruption due to early life environmental exposure of future mothers. We investigated whether maternal exposure to folic acid deficient (FD) and supplemented (FS) diets starting in utero could affect oocytes and cause adverse developmental and epigenetic effects in next generation progeny. Female BALB/c mice (F0) were placed on one of four amino acid defined diets for 4 weeks before pregnancy and throughout pregnancy and lactation: folic acid control (rodent daily recommended intake or DRI; Ctrl), 7−fold folic acid deficient (7FD), 10−fold folic acid supplemented (10FS) or 20−fold folic acid supplemented (20FS) diets. F1 female pups were weaned onto Ctrl diets, mated to produce the F2 generation, and the F2 offspring were examined at E18.5 for developmental and epigenetic abnormalities. Resorption was increased and litter sizes decreased amongst F2 E18.5 day litters in the 20FS group. Increases in abnormal embryo outcomes were observed in all three FD and FS groups. Subtle genome-wide DNA methylation alterations were found in the placentas and brains of F2 offspring in the 7D, 10FS and 20FS groups; in contrast, global and imprinted gene methylation were not affected. The findings show that early life female environmental exposures to both low and high folate prior to oocyte maturation can compromise oocyte quality, adversely affecting offspring of the next generation, in part by altering DNA methylation patterns.
Project description:one-carbon metabolism in the liver plays a critical role in placental and fetal growth. Impaired functioning of one-carbon metabolism is associated with increased homocysteine (Hcy) levels. In this study, we applied a comprehensive proteomic approach to identify differential expression of proteins related to one-carbon metabolism in the livers of rat offspring as an effect of maternal food restriction during gestation. We determined that betaine-homocysteine S-methyltransferase 1 (BHMT1), methylenetetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase 1 (MTHFD1), and ATP synthase subunit beta mitochondrial (ATP5B) expression levels were significantly reduced in the livers of rat offspring exposed to maternal food restriction during gestation compared with in the offspring of rats fed a normal diet (p<0.05).