TY - JOUR
T1 - A Maternal Low-protein Diet during Gestation Induces Hepatic Autophagy-related Gene Expression in a Sex-specific Manner in Sprague-Dawley Rats
AU - Cai, Mingzhu
AU - Zhang, Jie
AU - Chen, Hong
AU - Pan, Yuan-Xiang
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Authors 2021.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - This study investigates the mechanism by which maternal protein restriction induces hepatic autophagy-related gene expression in the offspring of rats. Pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats were fed either a control diet (C, 18% energy from protein) or a low-protein diet (LP, 8.5% energy from protein) during gestation, followed by the control diet during lactation and post-weaning. Liver tissue was collected from the offspring at postnatal day 38 and divided into four groups according to sex and maternal diet (F-C, F-LP, M-C, and M-LP) for further analysis. Autophagy-related mRNA and protein levels were determined by real-Time PCR and Western blotting, respectively. In addition, chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) was performed to investigate the interactions between transcription factors and autophagy-related genes. Protein levels of p-eIF2a and ATF4 were increased only in the female offspring born to dams fed the LP diet. Correlatively, the mRNA expression of hepatic autophagy-related genes including Map1lc3b, P62/Sqstm1, Becn1, Atg3, Atg7, and Atg10 was significantly greater in the F-LP group than in the F-C group. Furthermore, ChIP results showed greater ATF4 and C/EBP homology protein (CHOP) binding at the regions of a set of autophagy-related genes in the F-LP group than in the F-C group. Our data demonstrated that a maternal LP diet transcriptionally programmed hepatic autophagy-related gene expression only in female rat offspring. This transcriptional program involved the activation of the eIF2α/ATF4 pathway and intricate regulation by transcription factors ATF4 and CHOP.
AB - This study investigates the mechanism by which maternal protein restriction induces hepatic autophagy-related gene expression in the offspring of rats. Pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats were fed either a control diet (C, 18% energy from protein) or a low-protein diet (LP, 8.5% energy from protein) during gestation, followed by the control diet during lactation and post-weaning. Liver tissue was collected from the offspring at postnatal day 38 and divided into four groups according to sex and maternal diet (F-C, F-LP, M-C, and M-LP) for further analysis. Autophagy-related mRNA and protein levels were determined by real-Time PCR and Western blotting, respectively. In addition, chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) was performed to investigate the interactions between transcription factors and autophagy-related genes. Protein levels of p-eIF2a and ATF4 were increased only in the female offspring born to dams fed the LP diet. Correlatively, the mRNA expression of hepatic autophagy-related genes including Map1lc3b, P62/Sqstm1, Becn1, Atg3, Atg7, and Atg10 was significantly greater in the F-LP group than in the F-C group. Furthermore, ChIP results showed greater ATF4 and C/EBP homology protein (CHOP) binding at the regions of a set of autophagy-related genes in the F-LP group than in the F-C group. Our data demonstrated that a maternal LP diet transcriptionally programmed hepatic autophagy-related gene expression only in female rat offspring. This transcriptional program involved the activation of the eIF2α/ATF4 pathway and intricate regulation by transcription factors ATF4 and CHOP.
KW - Autophagy
KW - Genes
KW - Maternal protein deficiency
KW - Sex difference
KW - Transcription factor
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U2 - 10.1017/S0007114521003639
DO - 10.1017/S0007114521003639
M3 - Article
C2 - 34511147
AN - SCOPUS:85115638075
JO - British Journal of Nutrition
JF - British Journal of Nutrition
SN - 0007-1145
ER -