MRC INTEGRATIVE EPIDEMIOLOGY UNIT (IEU)

SEMINAR

 THURSDAY 4^TH DECEMBER, 2014

 1600 – 1700 : SEMINAR ROOM
2^nd FLOOR, OAKFIELD HOUSE

 DR NINA BALTHASAR
READER IN NEUROSCIENCE, SCHOOL OF PHYSIOLOGY AND PHARMACOLOGY. UNIVERISTY OF BRISTOL

 

“Thanks, mum: CNS mechanisms underpinning dietary in utero influences on offspring health”

Abstract

Poor maternal diet influences offspring health in later life: e.g. offspring of obese mothers are programmed to also become overweight. The hypothalamus plays a critical role in regulating whole body energy homeostasis; appropriate nutrient and hormone exposure of the fetus is important for healthy development of these hypothalamic pathways. Our data in mice suggest that maternal diet during pregnancy per se plays a key role in adult offspring health, however the mechanisms leading in utero nutritional insults to have long-lasting effects are unclear. In this seminar we will explore our data in mice and look at future applications of e.g. CNS area-specific epigenomic approaches to understand how nutritional exposures are recorded and transmitted through subsequent generations.

Nina Balthasar