In utero exposure to a maternal high-fat diet alters the epigenetic histone code in a murine model.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Data from animal models show that in utero exposure to a maternal high-fat diet (HFD) renders susceptibility of these offspring to the adult onset of metabolic syndrome. We and others have previously shown that epigenetic modifications to histones may serve as a molecular memory of the in utero exposure, rendering the risk of adult disease. Because mice heterozygous for the Glut4 gene (insulin sensitive glucose transporter) born to wild-type (WT) mothers demonstrate exacterbated metabolic syndrome when exposed to an HFD in utero, we sought to analyze the genome-wide epigenetic changes that occur in the fetal liver in susceptible offspring.

Study design

WT and Glut4(+/-) (G4(+/-)) offspring of WT mothers that were exposed either to a control or an HFD in utero were

SUBMITTER: Suter MA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4368445 | biostudies-literature | 2014 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature