Lysine Deprivation during Maternal Consumption of Low-Protein Diets Could Adversely Affect Early Embryo Development and Health in Adulthood

Lon J. Van Winkle, Vasiliy Galat and Philip M. Iannaccone
Additional contact information
Lon J. Van Winkle: Department of Biochemistry, Midwestern University, Downers Grove, IL 60515, USA
Vasiliy Galat: Department of Pathology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Stanley Manne Children’s Research Institute and the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60209, USA
Philip M. Iannaccone: Departments of Pediatrics and Pathology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and the Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60209, USA

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 15, 1-9

Abstract: The conversion of lysine to glutamate is needed for signaling in all plants and animals. In mouse embryonic stem (mES) cells, and probably their progenitors, endogenous glutamate production and signaling help maintain cellular pluripotency and proliferation, although the source of glutamate is yet to be determined. If the source of glutamate is lysine, then lysine deprivation caused by maternal low-protein diets could alter early embryo development and, consequently, the health of the offspring in adulthood. For these reasons, we measured three pertinent variables in human embryonic stem (hES) cells as a model for the inner cell masses of human blastocysts. We found that RNA encoding the alpha-aminoadipic semialdehyde synthase enzyme, which regulates glutamate production from lysine, was highly expressed in hES cells. Moreover, the mean amount of lysine consumed by hES cells was 50% greater than the mean amount of glutamate they produced, indicating that lysine is likely converted to glutamate in these cells. Finally, hES cells expressed RNA encoding at least two glutamate receptors. Since this may also be the case for hES progenitor cells in blastocysts, further studies are warranted to verify the presence of this signaling process in hES cells and to determine whether lysine deprivation alters early mammalian embryo development.

Keywords: barker hypothesis; blastocyst; embryo; embryonic stem cells; glutamate signaling; low-protein diet; lysine; offspring (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/15/5462/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/15/5462/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:15:p:5462-:d:391431

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().