Consequences of maternal protein restriction on the morphophysiology and proteomic profile of the lungs of offspring of young and old female rats.

• Grant number: 24/22257-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: May 01, 2025
• End date: April 30, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Morphology - Histology
• Principal Investigator: Luis Antonio Justulin Junior
• Grantee: Flávia Alessandra Maciel
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IBB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 22/03990-0 - Global expression profile of lncRNAs in the ventral prostate of offspring rats submitted to maternal low protein diet: a DOHaD approach, AP.R

Abstract

Numerous epidemiological and experimental studies demonstrate that nutritional adversities during the early developmental periods (gestation and early childhood) can increase the risk of diseases in offspring. Such conditions are linked to the concept of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD). One of the models associated with such a context is Maternal Protein Restriction (MPR), which affects cardiac morphophysiology and renal functions in early life, causes arterial hypertension in adulthood, and impacts the pulmonary protein profile of male rats during aging. However, few studies evaluate these conditions in females, especially considering morphophysiological aspects of the respiratory system. Therefore, the objective of this project is to evaluate the consequences of MPR on the respiratory morphophysiology of post-weaning female rats, based on the global proteomic profile. For this purpose, female rats of the Sprague Dawley line will be used, divided into 2 groups: Rats born to mothers fed a normal-protein diet (CTR, 17% protein) or a low-protein diet (GLLP, 6%), during pregnancy and lactation. On postnatal day (PND) 21, some of the animals will be euthanized, and the other part will be kept until PND 540, when functional analyses will be performed and the lungs will be collected for morphological, molecular and proteomic analyses. The expected results are that MPR affects the protein profile of the lungs in early life and aging, bringing immediate and long-term impacts that may impair respiratory physiology. Furthermore, we hypothesize that there is a protective role of estrogen in females, and that the impacts are less evident than compared to the data in the literature on males.