| Grant number: | 14/06980-0 |
| Support type: | Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate |
| Effective date (Start): | August 01, 2014 |
| Effective date (End): | July 31, 2015 |
| Field of knowledge: | Biological Sciences - Pharmacology |
| Principal researcher: | Luciano Freitas Felicio |
| Grantee: | Marianne Orlandini Klein |
| Supervisor abroad: | Alfonso Abizaid |
| Home Institution: | Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas (ICB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil |
| Research place: | Carleton University, Canada |
| Associated to the scholarship: | 12/07378-6 - Maternal high fat diet: influences on maternal behavior and offspring development, BP.DR |
Abstract Developmental programming is influenced by perinatal nutrition and it has a long-lasting impact on adult metabolism in the offspring. In particular, maternal high fat diet has been associated with increased risk of obesity and metabolic disorders in the offspring. These effects may be due to the effects of the high fat diet on the development of the systems that regulate food intake and energy balance in the hypothalamus. The arcuate nucleus (ARC) of hypothalamus may be a particularly sensitive region as this nucleus contains cells that are sensitive to nutrients like glucose and fatty acids, and contains the POMC and AgRP/NPY neurons that play an important role on the control of energy balance and food intake. Thus, the aim of this study is to investigate the effects of maternal high fat diet during pregnancy on the development of the offspring ARC as a potential mechanism that results in altered neuronal fate of POMC and NPY neurons. To this end, we will investigate the effects of a high fat diet fed to mothers throughout pregnancy on the expression of neurogenin 3 (Ngn 3), a progenitor transcription factor important for the fate of POMC and NPY neurons within the ARC during development. Pregnant females will be assigned either to: high fat group (HF, 45% fat diet since day 0 of pregnancy) or control group (CON, standard diet). Pregnant females will be sacrificed on days 10, 13, 15 and 17 of pregnancy to obtain the brains from developing fetuses. It will be determined by immunofluorescence and in situ hybridization the differences in the expression of Ngn 3, POMC and NPY at all time points. (AU) | |
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