Evaluation of the proteomic profile of pancreatic islets isolated from offspring rats submitted to maternal malnutrition: possible relationships with metabolism

• Grant number: 23/06412-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Effective date (Start): August 01, 2023
• Effective date (End): February 28, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Morphology - Histology
• Principal Investigator: Luis Antonio Justulin Junior
• Grantee: Ana Beathriz Leite Lorente
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IBB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The DOHaD concept (Developmental Origin of Health and Disease) seeks to establish the correlation between the incidence of diseases in adult life and in aging, in view of the events suffered during early development. One of the most used models for DOHaD studies is the submission of rodents to maternal protein restriction (PMR). Experimental studies have already shown that it is responsible for low birth weight, decreased fat deposits, changes in serum levels of hormones and growth factors that are essential for the development of the offspring, in addition to being associated with the development of metabolic syndromes in the offspring. adulthood. Knowing the importance of the pancreas in maintaining an individual's systemic homeostasis, it seems essential to investigate, in a global way, the impact of PMR on pancreatic morphophysiology, associating these alterations with important pathways that may be related to the appearance of pancreatic and metabolic dysfunctions throughout life. For this, male offspring of Sprague Dawley rats will be used, which will be divided into two experimental groups: control group (CTR, n=12, rats fed during pregnancy and lactation with a ration with 17% protein) and the gestational protein restriction group and Lactational (RPGL, n=12, rats fed a 6% protein chow). At the time of weaning, postnatal day (PND) 21, the animals will be anesthetized, euthanized, and blood and pancreas will be collected, which will be dissected and separated to be fixed for morphological analysis (n=6/group animals); other pancreas (n=4/per group) will be digested with collagenase and pancreatic islets will be collected for protein extraction and proteomic analyzes will be performed by mass spectrometry (LC-Ms/Ms), with differentially expressed targets validated by western technique blotting. Thus, it is expected to obtain a global view of the effects of RPM on the morphophysiology of the endocrine pancreas, identifying the proteins differently expressed in these animals and correlating them with possible functional changes in this organ.