Choline availability during embryonic development alters the localization of calretinin in developing and aging mouse hippocampus.
Choline availability in the diet during pregnancy alters fetal brain biochemistry with resulting behavioral changes that persist throughout the lifetime of the offspring. In the present study, the effects of dietary choline on the onset of GABAergic neuronal differentiation in developing fetal brain, as demarcated by the expression of calcium binding protein calretinin, are described. In these studies, timed-pregnant mice were fed choline supplemented, control or choline deficient AIN-76 diet from day 12-17 of pregnancy and the brains of their fetuses were studied on day 17 of gestation. In the primordial dentate gyrus, we found that pups from choline deficient-dams had more calretinin protein (330% increase), and pups from choline supplemented-dams had less calretinin protein (70% decrease), than did pups from control-dams. Importantly, decreased calretinin protein was still detectable in hippocampus in aged, 24-month-old mice, born of choline supplemented-dams and maintained since birth on a control diet. Thus, alterations in the level of calretinin protein in fetal brain hippocampus could underlie the known, life long effects of maternal dietary choline availability on brain development and behavior.
Department of Nutrition, School of Public Health and School of Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7400, USA.
Craig D
CD
Albright
Donald F
DF
Siwek
Corneliu N
CN
Craciunescu
Mei-Heng
MH
Mar
Neil W
NW
Kowall
Christina L
CL
Williams
Steven H
SH
Zeisel
D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D064032:Calbindin 2; D002794:Choline / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002796:Choline Deficiency / Q000378:metabolism; D005314:Embryonic and Fetal Development; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000196:embryology / Q000254:growth & development*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D064030:S100 Calcium Binding Protein G / Q000032:analysis*
C576511:Calb2 protein, mouse; D064032:Calbindin 2; D064030:S100 Calcium Binding Protein G; D002794:Choline