Obesity during pregnancy increases the risk for maternal complications such as gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, and maternal inflammation. Maternal obesity also increases the risk of childhood obesity, fetal intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) and diabetes in childhood. Placental trophoblast apoptosis is documented in patients with preeclampsia and IUGR due to hypoxia. Increased circulating free fatty acids (FFA) in obesity due to adipose lipolysis induces lipoapoptosis to hepatocytes, cholangiocytes, and pancreatic-β-cells. I initiated studies to test the lipotoxic role of saturated free fatty acids in placental trophoblast during maternal obesity. Our published work shows that saturated FFAs induce placental trophoblast lipoapoptosis (PLoSOne 2021). We also observed that saturated FFAs caused a concentration-dependent increase in placental trophoblast lipoapoptosis. Further, addition of saturated FFAs to placental trophoblasts led to increased levels of cleaved-PARP and cleaved caspase 3 in these trophoblasts. Co-treatment of palmitate with lipopolysaccharide to placental trophoblasts exacerbates palmitate-induced placental trophoblast lipoapoptosis suggesting that maternal inflammation aggravates FFA-induced lipoapoptosis. Interestingly, palmitoleate treatment protects against palmitate-induced placental trophoblast lipoapoptosis. The protection offered by palmitoleate support the therapeutic potential of palmitoleate against FFA-induced placental lipotoxicity in maternal obesity.
Faculty Advisor Mentoring Philosophy
We are team and I am looking for a team player who is interested and enthusiastic about our lab research. I am a first generation graduate and would love to mentor and work with students from diverse background.
Faculty Advisor | Sathish Kumar Natarajan | |
Contact E-Mail | snatarajan2@unl.edu | |
Department | Nutrition & Health Sciences – College of Education and Human Sciences | |
Potential UCARE Research Position? | Yes | |
UCARE Terms | Both next summer (2024) and next academic year (2024-2025) | |
Paid or Volunteer Experience? | Paid by UCARE Funding | |
Hours per Week | Up to 10 in spring and fall; up to 20 in summer | |
Acceptable Undergraduate Majors | Nutrition, Biochemistry, Microbiology, Food Science, Animal Science |