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Characterisation of the Paternal Influence on Intergenerational Offspring Cardiac and Brain Lipid Homeostasis in Mice (2023)
Journal Article
Furse, S., Morgan, H. L., Koulman, A., & Watkins, A. J. (2023). Characterisation of the Paternal Influence on Intergenerational Offspring Cardiac and Brain Lipid Homeostasis in Mice. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 24(3), Article 1814. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24031814

There is growing evidence that poor paternal diet at the time of conception increase the risk of offspring developing a range of non-communicable metabolic diseases, such as obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, in adulthood. We hypothesise t... Read More about Characterisation of the Paternal Influence on Intergenerational Offspring Cardiac and Brain Lipid Homeostasis in Mice.

Parental Programming of Offspring Health: The Intricate Interplay between Diet, Environment, Reproduction and Development (2022)
Journal Article
Batra, V., Norman, E., Morgan, H. L., & Watkins, A. J. (2022). Parental Programming of Offspring Health: The Intricate Interplay between Diet, Environment, Reproduction and Development. Biomolecules, 12(9), Article 1289. https://doi.org/10.3390/biom12091289

As adults, our health can be influenced by a range of lifestyle and environmental factors, increasing the risk for developing a series of non-communicable diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and obesity. Over the past few decades, our und... Read More about Parental Programming of Offspring Health: The Intricate Interplay between Diet, Environment, Reproduction and Development.

Paternal low protein diet perturbs inter-generational metabolic homeostasis in a tissue-specific manner in mice (2022)
Journal Article
Morgan, H. L., Furse, S., Dias, I. H. K., Shabir, K., Castellanos, M., Khan, I., …Watkins, A. J. (2022). Paternal low protein diet perturbs inter-generational metabolic homeostasis in a tissue-specific manner in mice. Communications Biology, 5(1), Article 929. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-022-03914-8

The underlying mechanisms driving paternally-programmed metabolic disease in offspring remain poorly defined. We fed male C57BL/6 mice either a control normal protein diet (NPD; 18% protein) or an isocaloric low protein diet (LPD; 9% protein) for a m... Read More about Paternal low protein diet perturbs inter-generational metabolic homeostasis in a tissue-specific manner in mice.

Paternal nutritional programming of lipid metabolism is propagated through sperm and seminal plasma (2022)
Journal Article
Furse, S., Watkins, A. J., Williams, H. E., Snowden, S. G., Chiarugi, D., & Koulman, A. (2022). Paternal nutritional programming of lipid metabolism is propagated through sperm and seminal plasma. Metabolomics, 18(2), Article 13. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11306-022-01869-9

Background: The paternal diet affects lipid metabolism in offspring for at least two generations through nutritional programming. However, we do not know how this is propagated to the offspring. Objectives: We tested the hypothesis that the changes i... Read More about Paternal nutritional programming of lipid metabolism is propagated through sperm and seminal plasma.

Paternal periconception metabolic health and offspring programming (2021)
Journal Article
Eid, N., Morgan, H. L., & Watkins, A. J. (2021). Paternal periconception metabolic health and offspring programming. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0029665121003736

The association between maternal metabolic status at the time of conception and subsequent embryogenesis and offspring development has been studied in detail. However, less attention has been given to the significance of paternal nutrition and metabo... Read More about Paternal periconception metabolic health and offspring programming.

A pipeline for making 31P NMR accessible for small- and large-scale lipidomics studies (2021)
Journal Article
Furse, S., Williams, H. E. L., Watkins, A. J., Virtue, S., Vidal-Puig, A., Amarsi, R., …Koulman, A. (2021). A pipeline for making 31P NMR accessible for small- and large-scale lipidomics studies. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, 413(19), 4763-4773. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-021-03430-4

Detailed molecular analysis is of increasing importance in research into the regulation of biochemical pathways, organismal growth and disease. Lipidomics in particular is increasingly sought after as it provides insight into molecular species involv... Read More about A pipeline for making 31P NMR accessible for small- and large-scale lipidomics studies.

Lipid traffic analysis reveals the impact of high paternal carbohydrate intake on offsprings’ lipid metabolism (2021)
Journal Article
Furse, S., Watkins, A., Hojat, N., Smith, J., Williams, H., Chiarugi, D., & Koulman, A. (2021). Lipid traffic analysis reveals the impact of high paternal carbohydrate intake on offsprings’ lipid metabolism. Communications Biology, 4, Article 163. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-021-01686-1

In this paper we present an investigation of parental-diet-driven metabolic programming in offspring using a novel computational network analysis tool. The impact of high paternal carbohydrate intake on offsprings’ phospholipid and triglyceride metab... Read More about Lipid traffic analysis reveals the impact of high paternal carbohydrate intake on offsprings’ lipid metabolism.

Paternal low protein diet and the supplementation of methyl-donors impact fetal growth and placental development in mice (2020)
Journal Article
Morgan, H. L., Aljumah, A., Rouillon, C., & Watkins, A. J. (2021). Paternal low protein diet and the supplementation of methyl-donors impact fetal growth and placental development in mice. Placenta, 103, 124-133. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.placenta.2020.10.020

Introduction Paternal low-protein diet can alter sperm methylation status, fetal growth and program offspring ill-health, however its impact on the placenta remains poorly defined. Here we examine the influence paternal low-protein diet has on fetal... Read More about Paternal low protein diet and the supplementation of methyl-donors impact fetal growth and placental development in mice.

The duration of embryo culture after mouse IVF differentially affects cardiovascular and metabolic health in male offspring (2020)
Journal Article
Aljahdali, A., Airina, R. K. R. I., Velazquez, M. A., Sheth, B., Wallen, K., Osmond, C., …Fleming, T. P. (2020). The duration of embryo culture after mouse IVF differentially affects cardiovascular and metabolic health in male offspring. Human Reproduction, 35(11), 2497–2514. https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/deaa205

Study question: Do the long-term health outcomes following IVF differ depending upon the duration of embryo culture before transfer? Summary answer: Using a mouse model, we demonstrate that in male but not female offspring, adverse cardiovascular... Read More about The duration of embryo culture after mouse IVF differentially affects cardiovascular and metabolic health in male offspring.

Extraction of Lipids from Liquid Biological Samples for High-Throughput Lipidomics (2020)
Journal Article
Furse, S., Watkins, A. J., & Koulman, A. (2020). Extraction of Lipids from Liquid Biological Samples for High-Throughput Lipidomics. Molecules, 25(14), https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules25143192

Extraction of the lipid fraction is a key part of acquiring lipidomics data. High-throughput lipidomics, the extraction of samples in 96w plates that are then run on 96 or 384w plates, has particular requirements that mean special development work is... Read More about Extraction of Lipids from Liquid Biological Samples for High-Throughput Lipidomics.

Low protein diet and methyl-donor supplements modify testicular physiology in mice (2020)
Journal Article
Morgan, H. L., Ampong, I., Eid, N., Rouillon, C., Griffiths, H. R., & Watkins, A. J. (2020). Low protein diet and methyl-donor supplements modify testicular physiology in mice. Reproduction, 159(5), 627-641. https://doi.org/10.1530/rep-19-0435

The link between male diet and sperm quality has received significant investigation. However, the impact diet and dietary supplements have on the testicular environment has been examined to a lesser extent. Here, we establish the impact of a sub-opti... Read More about Low protein diet and methyl-donor supplements modify testicular physiology in mice.

Paternal diet impairs F1 and F2 offspring vascular function through sperm and seminal plasma specific mechanisms in mice (2019)
Journal Article
Morgan, H. L., Paganopoulou, P., Akhtar, S., Urquhart, N., Philomin, R., Dickinson, Y., & Watkins, A. J. (2020). Paternal diet impairs F1 and F2 offspring vascular function through sperm and seminal plasma specific mechanisms in mice. Journal of Physiology, 598(4), 699-715. https://doi.org/10.1113/jp278270

Although the impact of maternal diet on adult offspring health is well characterized, the role that a father's diet has on his offspring's health remains poorly defined. We establish the significance of a sup-optimal paternal low protein diet for off... Read More about Paternal diet impairs F1 and F2 offspring vascular function through sperm and seminal plasma specific mechanisms in mice.

The influence of seminal plasma on offspring development and health (2019)
Journal Article
Morgan, H. L., & Watkins, A. J. (2020). The influence of seminal plasma on offspring development and health. Seminars in Cell and Developmental Biology, 97, 131-137. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.semcdb.2019.06.008

The concept that a father’s wellbeing at the time of conception influences the development and long-term health of his offspring is now well established. However, the mechanisms underlying the paternal programming of offspring health are not fully de... Read More about The influence of seminal plasma on offspring development and health.

Periconceptional environment and the developmental origins of disease (2019)
Journal Article
Velazquez, M. A., Fleming, T. P., & Watkins, A. J. (2019). Periconceptional environment and the developmental origins of disease. Journal of Endocrinology, 242(1), T33-T49. https://doi.org/10.1530/JOE-18-0676

© 2019 Society for Endocrinology Published by Bioscientifica Ltd. The concept emerging from Professor David Barker's seminal research on the developmental origins of later-life disease has progressed in many directions since it was first published. O... Read More about Periconceptional environment and the developmental origins of disease.

Tissue Morphology and Gene Expression Characterisation of Transplantable Adenocarcinoma Bearing Mice Exposed to Fluorodeoxyglucose-Conjugated Magnetic Nanoparticles (2018)
Journal Article
Watkins, A., Pearce, G., Unak, P., Gulde, O., Yasakci, V., Akin, O., …Ma, X. (2018). Tissue Morphology and Gene Expression Characterisation of Transplantable Adenocarcinoma Bearing Mice Exposed to Fluorodeoxyglucose-Conjugated Magnetic Nanoparticles. Journal of Biomedical Nanotechnology, 14(11), 1979-1991. https://doi.org/10.1166/jbn.2018.2631

Fluorodeoxyglucose-conjugated magnetic nanoparticles, designed to target cancer cells with high specificity when heated by an alternating magnetic field, could provide a low-cost, non-toxic treatment for cancer. However, it is essential that the in v... Read More about Tissue Morphology and Gene Expression Characterisation of Transplantable Adenocarcinoma Bearing Mice Exposed to Fluorodeoxyglucose-Conjugated Magnetic Nanoparticles.

Paternal diet programs offspring health through sperm- and seminal plasma-specific pathways in mice (2018)
Journal Article
Watkins, A. J., Dias, I., Tsuro, H., Allen, D., Emes, R. D., Moreton, J., …Sinclair, K. D. (2018). Paternal diet programs offspring health through sperm- and seminal plasma-specific pathways in mice. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115(40), 10064-10069. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1806333115

© 2018 National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. The association between poor paternal diet, perturbed embryonic development, and adult offspring ill health represents a new focus for the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease hypothesi... Read More about Paternal diet programs offspring health through sperm- and seminal plasma-specific pathways in mice.

An in-vivo pilot study into the effects of FDG-mNP in cancer in mice (2018)
Journal Article
Aras, O., Pearce, G., Watkins, A. J., Nurili, F., Medine, E. I., Guldu, O. K., …Akin, O. (2018). An in-vivo pilot study into the effects of FDG-mNP in cancer in mice. PLoS ONE, 13(8), Article e0202482. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0202482

PURPOSE: Previously, fluorodeoxy glucose conjugated magnetite nanoparticles (FDG-mNPs) injected into cancer cells in conjunction with the application of magnetic hyperthermia have shown promise in new FDG-mNPs applications. The aim of this study was... Read More about An in-vivo pilot study into the effects of FDG-mNP in cancer in mice.

Origins of lifetime health around the time of conception: causes and consequences (2018)
Journal Article
Fleming, T., Watkins, A., Velazquez, M., Mathers, J., Prentice, A., Stephenson, J., …Keith, G. (2018). Origins of lifetime health around the time of conception: causes and consequences. Lancet, 391(10132),

Parental environmental factors, including diet, body composition, metabolism, and stress, affect the health and chronic disease risk of people throughout their lives, as captured in the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease concept. Research ac... Read More about Origins of lifetime health around the time of conception: causes and consequences.

Paternal low protein diet programs preimplantation embryo gene expression, fetal growth and skeletal development in mice (2017)
Journal Article
Watkins, A. J., Sirovica, S., Stokes, B., Isaacs, M., Addison, O., & Martin, R. A. (2017). Paternal low protein diet programs preimplantation embryo gene expression, fetal growth and skeletal development in mice. BBA - Molecular Basis of Disease, 1863(6), 1371-1381. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbadis.2017.02.009

© 2017 Elsevier B.V. Defining the mechanisms underlying the programming of early life growth is fundamental for improving adult health and wellbeing. While the association between maternal diet, offspring growth and adult disease risk is well-establi... Read More about Paternal low protein diet programs preimplantation embryo gene expression, fetal growth and skeletal development in mice.

Regulation of ribosomal RNA expression across the lifespan is fine-tuned by maternal diet before implantation (2016)
Journal Article
Denisenko, O., Lucas, E. S., Sun, C., Watkins, A. J., Mar, D., Bomsztyk, K., & Fleming, T. P. (2016). Regulation of ribosomal RNA expression across the lifespan is fine-tuned by maternal diet before implantation. BBA - Biochimica et Biophysica Acta, 1859(7), 906-913. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbagrm.2016.04.001

Cells and organisms respond to nutrient deprivation by decreasing global rates of transcription, translation and DNA replication. To what extent such changes can be reversed is largely unknown. We examined the effect of maternal dietary restriction o... Read More about Regulation of ribosomal RNA expression across the lifespan is fine-tuned by maternal diet before implantation.