The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Maternal diet and visceral yolk sac function during mouse development

Maternal diet and visceral yolk sac function during mouse development
Maternal diet and visceral yolk sac function during mouse development

The visceral yolk sac endoderm (VYSE) has a pivotal role to play in the nutritional support of the developing foetus, particularly in rodents.  Maternally-derived proteins are endocytosed by VYSE cells and broken down by acid hydrolysis to release amino acids for foetal growth.  I have investigated in vitro the endocytic activity of the mouse visceral yolk sac derived from mothers fed ad libitum either a control diet or low protein diet (LPD) from the time of conception up specified times in gestation.  In addition, I have studied the growth morphology and biochemistry of the visceral yolk sac in relation to maternal diet. 

On the whole maternal diet had minimal effect on the growth and total protein content of the visceral yolk sac during gestation.  Overall, non-specific fluid phase endocytosis measured by 14C-sucrose uptake was significantly increased in yolk sacs from LPD fed mothers at 17 days (p=0.012), suggesting bulk fluid uptake is elevated to compensate for reduced maternal protein availability.  This distinction was not apparent at day 12 and day 14 of development.  Moreover, ultrastructural analysis of VYSE cells at day 17 from LPD mothers revealed significantly increased numbers of apical translucent endocytic vesicles (P=0.048).  However, receptor-mediated endocytosis of 125I-bovine serum albumin and subsequent release of iodinated tyrosine by yolk sacs from LPD mothers was significantly reduced at day 17 gestation compared to controls (P=0.038), indicating reduced nutritional support for the foetus.  Western blotting for candidate proteins involved in receptor-mediated endocytosis and lysosomes showed no significant change in their expression levels between the diets.

University of Southampton
Ursell, Elizabeth
3718147a-d6c6-4136-9e1a-491103297ff2
Ursell, Elizabeth
3718147a-d6c6-4136-9e1a-491103297ff2

Ursell, Elizabeth (2004) Maternal diet and visceral yolk sac function during mouse development. University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.

Record type: Thesis (Doctoral)

Abstract

The visceral yolk sac endoderm (VYSE) has a pivotal role to play in the nutritional support of the developing foetus, particularly in rodents.  Maternally-derived proteins are endocytosed by VYSE cells and broken down by acid hydrolysis to release amino acids for foetal growth.  I have investigated in vitro the endocytic activity of the mouse visceral yolk sac derived from mothers fed ad libitum either a control diet or low protein diet (LPD) from the time of conception up specified times in gestation.  In addition, I have studied the growth morphology and biochemistry of the visceral yolk sac in relation to maternal diet. 

On the whole maternal diet had minimal effect on the growth and total protein content of the visceral yolk sac during gestation.  Overall, non-specific fluid phase endocytosis measured by 14C-sucrose uptake was significantly increased in yolk sacs from LPD fed mothers at 17 days (p=0.012), suggesting bulk fluid uptake is elevated to compensate for reduced maternal protein availability.  This distinction was not apparent at day 12 and day 14 of development.  Moreover, ultrastructural analysis of VYSE cells at day 17 from LPD mothers revealed significantly increased numbers of apical translucent endocytic vesicles (P=0.048).  However, receptor-mediated endocytosis of 125I-bovine serum albumin and subsequent release of iodinated tyrosine by yolk sacs from LPD mothers was significantly reduced at day 17 gestation compared to controls (P=0.038), indicating reduced nutritional support for the foetus.  Western blotting for candidate proteins involved in receptor-mediated endocytosis and lysosomes showed no significant change in their expression levels between the diets.

Text
982467.pdf - Version of Record
Available under License University of Southampton Thesis Licence.
Download (35MB)

More information

Published date: 2004

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 465664
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/465664
PURE UUID: bbdb808d-1200-47b7-84c1-1ce862b58159

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 05 Jul 2022 02:29
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 20:18

Export record

Contributors

Author: Elizabeth Ursell

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×