Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology
Author: ERIKA INES GEORGIEFF | Email: Georgiefferikaines@gmail.com
ERIKA GEORGIEFF 2°, CAROLINA ALBERCA 3°, JENNIFER MIRANDA 1°, MARIELA CHERTOFF 2°
1° Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Departamento de Química Biológica, Laboratorio de Neuroepigenética, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
2° CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires, Instituto de Química Biológica de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales CONICET (IQUIBICEN), Buenos Aires, Argentina.
3° Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Winconsin-Madison, USA
Maternal malnutrition impacts brain development and long-term mental health, elevating
the risk to suffer of anxiety and depression disorders. DNA methylation is a key neuronal
mechanism for adapting to environmental changes. In this study, female mice exposed to
normal-protein (NP) or low-protein (LP) diets during gestation and lactation were assessed
for behavior and gene/protein expression in mothers and female offspring. We observed
that a LP diet in pregnancy and lactation led to anxiety-like behavior and anhedonia in
mothers and offspring. Reduced GR expression occurred in both hippocampus (HP) and
amygdala (AMY) of mothers and LP offspring. we noted an increase in plasma
corticosterone levels in offspring. Malnourished offspring displayed lower Bdnf exon VI and
an increase in the expression of Dnmt3b and Gadd45b in HP. AMY showed a trend
towards reduced Dnmt3b. A 5mC dot blot in HP of mothers and offspring revealed no
found differences between NP al LP animals on global 5mC levels. These findings indicate
HPA axis dysregulation in offspring, potentially increasing anxiety-like behaviors in adult
LP offspring.