Maternal obesity blunts antimicrobial responses in fetal monocytes
- University of California, Irvine, United States
- University of Kentucky, United States
- Oregon Health & Science University, United States
Abstract
Maternal pre-pregnancy (pregravid) obesity is associated with adverse outcomes for both mother and offspring. Amongst the complications for the offspring is increased susceptibility and severity of neonatal infections necessitating admission to the intensive care unit, notably bacterial sepsis and enterocolitis. Previous studies have reported aberrant responses to LPS and polyclonal stimulation by umbilical cord blood monocytes that were mediated by alterations in the epigenome. In this study, we show that pregravid obesity dysregulates umbilical cord blood monocyte responses to bacterial and viral pathogens. Specifically, interferon-stimulated gene expression and inflammatory responses to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and E. coli respectively were significantly dampened. Although upstream signaling events were comparable, translocation of the key transcription factor NF-kB and chromatin accessibility at pro-inflammatory gene promoters following TLR stimulation was significantly attenuated. Using a rhesus macaque model of western style diet-induced obesity, we further demonstrate that this defect is detected in fetal peripheral monocytes and tissue-resident macrophages during gestation. Collectively, these data indicate that maternal obesity alters metabolic, signaling, and epigenetic profiles of fetal monocytes leading to a state of immune paralysis during late gestation and at birth.
Data availability
The datasets supporting the conclusions of this article are available on NCBI's Sequence Read Archive PRJNA847067 and PRJNA914662.
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Maternal obesity blunts antimicrobial responses in fetal monocytesNCBI BioProject, PRJNA847067.
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Maternal obesity blunts antimicrobial responses in fetal monocytesNCBI BioProject, PRJNA914662.
Article and author information
Author details
Funding
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (R03AI112808)
- Ilhem Messaoudi
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (1R01AI142841)
- Ilhem Messaoudi
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (1R01AI145910)
- Ilhem Messaoudi
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Ethics
Human subjects: This study was approved by the Institutional Ethics Review Board of Oregon Health and Science University (STUDY00020735 "Perinatant Early Determinants of Immune Development") and the University of California, Irvine (protocol number 2017-3397 "Impact of maternal pre-pregnancy obesity on the offspring immune system"). Written consent was obtained from all subjects.
Reviewing Editor
- Jalees Rehman, University of Illinois at Chicago, United States
Publication history
- Received: June 22, 2022
- Accepted: January 15, 2023
- Accepted Manuscript published: January 16, 2023 (version 1)
Copyright
© 2023, Sureshchandra et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
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Maternal obesity blunts antimicrobial responses in fetal monocytes
eLife 12:e81320.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.81320
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Non-coding RNAs exert diverse functions in many cell types. In addition to transcription factors from coding genes, non-coding RNAs may also play essential roles in shaping and directing the fate of germ cells. The presence of many long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) which are specifically expressed in the germ cells during human gonadal development were reported and one divergent lncRNA, LNC1845, was functionally characterized. Comprehensive bioinformatic analysis of these lncRNAs indicates that divergent lncRNAs occupied the majority of female and male germ cells. Integrating lncRNA expression into the bioinformatic analysis also enhances the cell-type classification of female germ cells. Functional dissection using in vitro differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells to germ cells revealed the regulatory role of LNC1845 on a transcription factor essential for ovarian follicle development, LHX8, by modulating the levels of histone modifications, H3K4me3 and H3K27Ac. Hence, bioinformatical analysis and experimental verification provide a comprehensive analysis of lncRNAs in developing germ cells and elucidate how an lncRNA function as a cis regulator during human germ cell development.
