title: Somatic cytochrome c (CYCS) gene expression and promoter-specific DNA methylation in a porcine model of prenatal exposure to maternal dietary protein excess and restriction.
abstract: There is growing evidence that maternal nutrition during gestation has an important effect on offspring development as well as on their gene expression with long-term effects on the metabolic state. A potential mechanism forming long-lasting gene expression patterns is DNA methylation of cytosine in CpG dinucleotides within the promoter region of distinct genes. There has been special focus on mitochondrial dysfunction by prenatal malnourishment over the recent years. To this end, we investigated the gene expression of somatic cytochrome c (CYCS), an important member of the respiratory chain, in a porcine model of gestational protein over- and undersupply at 94 d post-conception and 1, 28 and 188 d of age, and analysed the association with the DNA methylation status within the CYCS promoter. Gene expression on day 1 post natum showed a significant increase in the low protein (LP) group (P = 0·0005) and a slight increase in the high protein (HP) group (P = 0·079) compared with the control (CO) group in the liver. The mean of the methylation level over forty-seven CpG sites from nucleotide (nt) - 417 to - 10 was significantly decreased in the LP (P = 0·007) and HP (P = 0·009) groups compared with that in the CO group. Excess and restricted protein supply during pregnancy led to hypomethylation of a number of CpG sites in the CYCS promoter, including those representing putative transcription factor-binding sites, associated with elevated expression levels. However, the impact of the low-protein gestation diet is more pronounced, indicating that the offspring could better adapt to excess rather than restricted protein supply.
authors: Research Group Functional Genomics, Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology, Wilhelm-Stahl-Allee 2, D-18196 Dummerstorf, Germany.
authors: Simone
authors: S
authors: Altmann
authors: Eduard
authors: E
authors: Murani
authors: Manfred
authors: M
authors: Schwerin
authors: Cornelia C
authors: CC
authors: Metges
authors: Klaus
authors: K
authors: Wimmers
authors: Siriluck
authors: S
authors: Ponsuksili
mesh_terms: D024506:5' Flanking Region; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D017849:Animals, Inbred Strains; D018899:CpG Islands; D003574:Cytochrome c Group / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D019175:DNA Methylation; D018753:Diet, Protein-Restricted / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000662:veterinary; D004044:Dietary Proteins / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005260:Female; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic; D005858:Germany; D008099:Liver / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D039382:Maternal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011247:Pregnancy; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D011897:Random Allocation; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D034421:Sus scrofa / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D003574:Cytochrome c Group; D004044:Dietary Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger