title: Enriched environment-induced maternal weight loss reprograms metabolic gene expression in mouse offspring.
abstract: The global prevalence of weight loss is increasing, especially in young women. However, the extent and mechanisms by which maternal weight loss affects the offspring is still poorly understood. Here, using an enriched environment (EE)-induced weight loss model, we show that maternal weight loss improves general health and reprograms metabolic gene expression in mouse offspring, and the epigenetic alterations can be inherited for at least two generations. EE in mothers induced weight loss and its associated physiological and metabolic changes such as decreased adiposity and improved glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity. Relative to controls, their offspring exhibited improved general health such as reduced fat accumulation, decreased plasma and hepatic lipid levels, and improved glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity. Maternal weight loss altered gene expression patterns in the liver of offspring with coherent down-regulation of genes involved in lipid and cholesterol biosynthesis. Epigenomic profiling of offspring livers revealed numerous changes in cytosine methylation depending on maternal weight loss, including reproducible changes in promoter methylation over several key lipid biosynthesis genes, correlated with their expression patterns. Embryo transfer studies indicated that oocyte alteration in response to maternal metabolic conditions is a strong factor in determining metabolic and epigenetic changes in offspring. Several important lipid metabolism-related genes have been identified to partially inherit methylated alleles from oocytes. Our study reveals a molecular and mechanistic basis of how maternal lifestyle modification affects metabolic changes in the offspring.
authors.affiliation: From the State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Yanchang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: From the State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Cai-Rong
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Changyi People's Hospital, Weifang 261300, China.
authors.forename: Yan-Ping
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: From the State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Zhao-Jia
authors.initials: ZJ
authors.lastname: Ge
authors.affiliation: From the State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Zhen-Ao
authors.initials: ZA
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Chinese Academy of Sciences Key Laboratory of Genome Sciences and Information, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China, and.
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: From the State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri 65211.
authors.forename: Heide
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schatten
authors.affiliation: From the State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China,. Electronic address: sunqy@ioz.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Qing-Yuan
authors.initials: QY
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D019175:DNA Methylation; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D050356:Lipid Metabolism; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D018811:Maternal Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D051379:Mice; D011247:Pregnancy; D015431:Weight Loss
keywords: DNA Demethylation; DNA Methylation; Embryo; Epigenetic Inheritance; Epigenetics; Fertilization; Obesity; Oocyte; Reprogramming; Weight Loss