Poster #024
Examining maturational differences in the NTS following early-life high-fat
Mentors: Jason Perez and Meaghan McCoy; PI: Anna Kamitakahara, PhD
Obesity affects 1 in 3 adults and 1 in 5 children in the US, increasing risk for conditions like cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer. Early-life exposure to a high-fat diet (HFDEARLY) significantly increases obesity risk. Previous studies demonstrated that HFDEARLY drives early maturation of cholecystokinin (CCK) signaling, which regulates feeding behavior by sending signals from the gut to the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS) in the brainstem. We hypothesize that increased synaptic pruning in the NTS during adolescence is responsible for the precocious maturation of CCK signaling in HFDEARLY mice. To test this, mice were given either a control or high-fat diet from birth until adolescence at postnatal day (P) 35. Brains were then collected, sectioned, and stained using immunofluorescence for synaptophysin, a marker for presynaptic terminals, in the NTS. Ongoing analysis will determine whether there are differences in synaptic density in the NTS between control and HFDEARLY mice.