Effects of chronic physical exercise on NAD+ metabolism and on mtUPR in the liver of mice

• Grant number: 20/07780-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Effective date (Start): December 01, 2020
• Effective date (End): November 30, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biochemistry - Molecular Biology
• Principal Investigator: Eduardo Rochete Ropelle
• Grantee: Saulo Gabriel do Nascimento Della Coleta
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Aplicadas (FCA). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Limeira , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Hepatic fat accumulation is an event often seen in obese patients and can cause metabolic disorders such as inflammation, mitochondrial disfunction, insulin resistance, leading to hepatic steatosis and cirrhosis. Pre-clinic studies shows that oral treatment with NAD+ precursors can stimulate mtUPR (mitochondrial unfolded protein response) mechanism, recovering mitochondrial and hepatic functions in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) model, showing that NAD+ metabolism and mtUPR activation might be promising mechanisms in prevention and treatment of the fat accumulation in the liver. It's known that physical exercise is a physiological stimulator for NAD+ synthesis. Moreover, we recently demonstrated that exercise stimulates several mtUPR markers and increases mitochondrial function in skeletal muscle. Thus, the aim of this project will be to evaluate the effects of aerobic exercise on NAD+ content and mtUPR markers in the liver of mice model for NAFLD.