Relationship between milk synthesis, stress and expression of HSPs (heat chock proteins) in the mammary gland of Saanen goats

• Grant number: 19/11855-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research
• Start date: September 01, 2019
• End date: August 15, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Animal Husbandry - Animal Production
• Principal Investigator: João Alberto Negrão
• Grantee: João Alberto Negrão
• Host Investigator: Geoffrey E. Dahl
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Zootecnia e Engenharia de Alimentos (FZEA). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Pirassununga , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Florida, Gainesville (UF), United States

Abstract

At the end of 2018, the project "Dairy production in Saanen goats: relationships between milk synthesis, stress, apoptosis and gene expression in the mammary gland" was submitted and approved by FAPESP (Process 2018 / 09093-5). This project aims to study how cortisol (CORT, a universal indicator of stress) and heat chock proteins (HSPs), modulate the interaction between insulin (INS), prolactin (PRL), growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) and its receptors on breast tissue. In this context, the opportunity arose to work in collaboration with Prof. Dr. Geoffrey E. Dahl (Department of Animal Science, University of Florida, USA) that has an excellent curriculum. Prof. Dahk also coordinates one of the best and most influential research groups in the Lactation Physiology, mainly in epigenetic studies related to gene expression in the mammary gland in animals submitted to heat stress. During this stage in research, I will have the opportunity to improve and apprehend methods and tools such as: the isolation of mammary epithelial cells by cell sorting; the analysis of the transcriptome expression profile of microRNAs and messenger RNAs (mRNA) by last generation sequencing (RNA-Seq); validation of microRNA / target interactions and quantification of the products generated through experiments of overexpression and inhibition of microRNAs in mammary epithelial cells to be implanted in the FZEA / USP Laboratory of Animal Physiology. (AU)