A recent paper from the ACNC investigates how maternal weight and diet before and during pregnancy may have an impact on fat development and the metabolic health of her offspring.
Postdoctoral Fellow Henry Paz and Assistant Professor Umesh Wankhade used data collected from multiple scientific research models: a cell culture model that examined fat cells (called adipocytes), an experimental mouse model of maternal high-fat diet-induced obesity, and samples of human adipocyte precursors collected from umbilical cord tissues from one of ACNC clinical research studies.
The overarching study aimed to better understand how a pregnant mother’s weight and diet can affect her offspring fat tissue – and further characterize these differences at a cellular level.
Using an experimental mouse model of maternal high-fat diet-induced obesity, Wankhade’s team found that male offspring had greater weight gain, greater fat mass, and impaired glucose control than female offspring. They also found that male offspring had more expression of specific Heat Shock Protein genes in white fat compared to female offspring.
To go further in understanding the role of Heat Shock Proteins in adipocyte development, an experiment in established adipocyte cell lines was conducted. Results demonstrated that the expression of Heat Shock Proteins during cell differentiation, an important time in cell development, was higher in white adipocytes, (the adipocytes that store excess energy or fat), than in brown adipocytes (a less common adipocyte used in heat generation to keep warm).
Investigators then explored if these results could be replicated in human tissue. Adipocyte precursor cells found in umbilical cord samples collected in a clinical research study were examined. Expression of an identified Heat Shock Protein gene tended to positively correlate with maternal body mass index (BMI; a measure of obesity) in male infant umbilical cord cells, but not in female infant cells.
These findings, generated independently by three different research strategies, strengthen the translational perspective of this work. Together, these results suggest a potential link between maternal diet and weight, Heat Shock Proteins, and adipose tissue function.
Read the full manuscript here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40513769/