differentiation-imaging-brown-adipocytes-from-stromal-vascular

Differentiation and Imaging of Brown Adipocytes from the Stromal Vascular Fraction of Interscapular Adipose Tissue from Newborn Mice

Brown adipose tissue (BAT) is only present in mammals and has a thermogenic function. Brown adipocytes are characterized by a multilocular cytoplasm with ...

Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

Metabolic-related diseases are attributed to a sedentary lifestyle and eating habits, and there is now an increased awareness regarding pregnancy as a preponderant window in the programming of adulthood health and disease. The developing foetus is susceptible to the maternal environment; hence, any unfavourable condition will result in foetal physiological adaptations that could have a permanent impact on its health. Some of these alterations are maintained via epigenetic modifications capable of modifying gene expression in metabolism-related genes. Children born to mothers with dyslipidaemia, pregestational or gestational obesity, and gestational diabetes mellitus, have a predisposition to develop metabolic alterations during adulthood. CpG methylation-associated alterations to the expression of several genes in the human placenta play a crucial role in the mother-to-foetus transfer of nutrients and macromolecules. Identification of epigenetic modifications in metabolism-related tissues of offspring from metabolic-altered pregnancies is essential to obtain insights into foetal programming controlling newborn, childhood, and adult metabolism. This review points out the importance of the foetal milieu in the programming and development of human disease and provides evidence of this being the underlying mechanism for the development of adulthood metabolic disorders in maternal dyslipidaemia, pregestational or gestational obesity, and gestational diabetes mellitus.

Foetoplacental epigenetic changes associated with maternal metabolic dysfunction.

The overwhelming rates of obesity worldwide are a major concern due to the elevated medical costs associated and the poor quality of life of obese patients. In the recent years, it has become evident that the intrauterine milieu can have a long-term impact on the foetus health. The placenta is a highly dynamic organ; whose primary function is to carry nutrients from the mother to the foetus and to remove waste products from the foetus. Any alteration in maternal circulating metabolites elicits a response in order to ensure the developing foetus an adequate growth environment. This response can be translated into epigenetic modifications in coding genes for metabolic-related receptors located in the placenta and foetal tissues. The most studied receptors involved in the metabolic sensing are the leptin and the insulin receptors. A maternal metabolic disease-like state can alter the expression of these receptors in different organs, including placenta. There is evidence that these alterations not only affect the expression level of these receptors, but there are also differences in epigenetic marks in regulatory elements of these genes that may become permanent despite the mother's treatment. This review provides evidence about possible mechanisms involved in the foetal programming of metabolic diseases originated from the pre-natal environment that could contributive to increasing levels of obesity in the world.

Francisca Stolzenbach

Department of Nutrition,
Diabetes and Metabolism,
Department of Nutrition, Diabetes and Metabolism

Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

Differentiation and Imaging of Brown Adipocytes from the Stromal Vascular Fraction of Interscapular Adipose Tissue from Newborn Mice

Francisca Stolzenbach

.css-o250i3{font-size:18px;font-family:Open Sans,sans-serif;line-height:21.6px;}Department of Nutrition,Diabetes and Metabolism,Department of Nutrition, Diabetes and Metabolism

Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

Differentiation and Imaging of Brown Adipocytes from the Stromal Vascular Fraction of Interscapular Adipose Tissue from Newborn Mice

Department of Nutrition,
Diabetes and Metabolism,
Department of Nutrition, Diabetes and Metabolism