Maternal undernutrition during pregnancy alters the epigenetic landscape and the expression of endothelial function genes in male progeny.

ABSTRACT: Recent studies point to the important role of in utero malnutrition in gene programming and in the development of vascular diseases. We hypothesize that maternal undernutrition affects vascular function in the offspring by promoting epigenetic changes that drive the differential expression of genes involved in endothelial function. To test this, we exposed mice to nutrient deprivation in utero and analyzed its effect on global DNA methylation and expression of endothelium-specific genes in the pulmonary endothelium of the adult progeny. Mice were kept either on ad libitum (AL) or energy-restricted (ER) diet during the second and third trimesters of gestation. Mice in the ER group received 65% of energy compared to mice in the AL diet group. Pulmonary endothelial cells were isolated from 6-

SUBMITTER: Zelko IN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6355254 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature