Effect of early protein restriction on the mTOR signaling pathway.

<p>Graphs illustrate the activation of AKT (A), mTOR (B) and S6 ribosomal protein (C) in the hypothalamus in response to variations in nutrient supply in adult rats born to control or protein-restricted dams as determined by western blot analysis. The figures above each histogram correspond to representative western blots of the phosphorylated and non phosphorylated forms of the indicated proteins as well as of β-actin which was used as internal control of protein loading. Animals were sacrificed under ad libitum feeding conditions, after a fasting period of 48 h or after fasting followed by re-feeding for 3 h. ^§P<0.05 compared to <i>ad libitum</i> fed controls animals.</p

Effects of early protein-restriction on body weight characteristics.

<p>Graphs illustrate post-weaning growth pattern (A) and body fat mass at adulthood (B) of offspring born to control or protein-restricted dams. Growth pattern is expressed as the amount of body weight gain in grams between the indicated periods of time. Abdominal fat refers to the summed weight of bilateral fat depots from 3 regions (inguinal, retroperitoneal and epididymal) and the mesenteric fat pad at 4 months of age expressed in percentage of body weight. ***P<0.001 (Student's t-test with n = 18 animals per group).</p

Changes in mTOR phosphorylation within the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus in response to variations in nutrient supply in adult rats born to control or protein-restricted dams.

<p>Top panels correspond to representative images of pmTOR labeling in hypothalamic slices from control (A,B,C) or perinatally undernourished rats (D,E,F) sacrificed under <i>ad libitum</i> feeding conditions, after a fast of 48 h or after fasting followed by 3 h of re-feeding. Bottom graph (G) corresponds to the mean number of immune-positive pmTOR cells in the fed state or after fasting and fasting plus re-feeding. 3 V, third ventricle. ^§p<0.05 as compared to <i>ad libitum</i> fed control animals (Student's t-test). *P<0.05 in relation to <i>ad libitum</i> fed animals from the same group (One way ANOVA followed by Dunnett's test). n = 5 for all groups. Scale bar  = 300 µm for all pictures.</p

Changes in food intake, body weight and serum hormone and metabolite levels in response to variations in nutrient supply in adult rats born to control or protein-restricted dams.

<p>Animals were sacrificed under <i>ad libitum</i> feeding conditions or food-deprived with free access to water for a period of 48 h after which they were either sacrificed or fed for 3 h and sacrificed immediately after. *P<0.05; **P<0.01; ***P<0.001 in comparison to <i>ad libitum</i> fed animals of the same experimental group as determined by One way ANOVA followed by Dunnett's test. ^§§p<0.01 in comparison to <i>ad libitum</i> fed control animals as determined by Student's t-test. A minimum of 5 animals per group was used for the determinations.</p

Effect of early protein restriction on mTOR phosphorylation within hypothalamic POMC-expressing neurons.

<p>Panels correspond to representative images of pmTOR and POMC labeling in the PVN (A, B and C), or the mediobasal hypothalamus (D, E and F), of <i>ad libitum</i> fed control rats. The bottom graphs correspond to the mean number of POMC cells (G) or POMC/pmTOR colabelled cells (H) in the fed state or after fasting and fasting plus re-feeding. 3 V, third ventricle. ^§P<0.05 compared to <i>ad libitum</i> fed control animals (Student's t test). *P<0.05; **P<0.01 in relation to <i>ad libitum</i> fed animals from the same group (One way ANOVA followed by Dunnett's test). n = 3 for all groups. Scale bar  = 300 µm for all pictures.</p