Project description
Maternal obesity as a potential cause of permanent changes in offspring's hypothalamic neurons
Clinical and experimental studies show a correlation between obesity during pregnancy and congenital metabolic illnesses. Understanding the connection between maternal obesity and metabolic control deficits in the offspring requires an investigation of the hypothalamus as the neuroendocrine interface. The EU-funded FOODFORLIFE project is testing the hypothesis that maternal obesity causes permanent molecular changes in the offspring's hypothalamic neurons, damaging their plasticity and adaptive repertoire. The approach involves single-cell sequencing to discover permanent modifications to gene expression at the successive developmental stages in mouse models. The objective is to identify molecular, cellular and network-level changes in the hypothalamus of offspring born to obese mothers and to understand the life-long consequences of metabolic programming of the developing brain.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
Topic(s)
Funding Scheme
ERC-ADG - Advanced Grant
Host institution
1090 Wien
Austria
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Beneficiaries (1)
1090 Wien
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