Multi-Omics Analysis Reveals the Potential Effects of Maternal Dietary Restriction on Fetal Muscle Growth and Development.

In terms of fetal muscle growth, development, and health, maternal nutrition is a crucial influence, although the exact biochemical mechanism by which this occurs is still not fully understood. To examine the potential impacts of maternal dietary restriction on fetal muscle development, the sheep maternal dietary restriction model was developed for this study. In our study, 12 pregnant ewes were evenly split into two experimental groups and fed either 75% or 100% of a maternal nutrient. In addition, a multi-omics analysis was used to study the embryonic longissimus dorsis on gestational days (GD) 85 and 135. The fetal weight at GD 135 was significantly below normal due to the maternal restricted diet ( < 0.01). When fetuses were exposed to the dietary deficit, 416 mRNAs and 40 proteins were significantly changed. At GD 85, the multi-omics analysis revealed that maternal dietary restriction led to a significant up-regulation of the cell cycle regulator gene in the cellular senescence signaling pathway, and the results of the qRT-PCR were similar to the multi-omics analysis, which showed that , , the cell cycle factors and , and the apoptosis factor were up-regulated and several skeletal muscle marker genes, such as and were down-regulated. At GD 135, maternal dietary restriction blocks the muscle fiber differentiation and maturation. The multi-omics analysis revealed that the gene was in the Hippo signaling pathway, the muscle marker genes and were significantly down-regulated, and the binding of the down-regulated gene might be potential mechanisms affecting myofiber differentiation and maturation. Knocking down the gene could inhibit the proliferation of primary embryonic myoblasts, and the expression levels of cell cycle regulatory factors and were significantly changed. Under low nutrient culture conditions, the number of myoblasts decreased and the expression of , , , and changed, which was in perfect agreement with the multi-omics analysis. All of the findings from our study helped to clarify the potential effects of maternal dietary restriction on fetal muscle growth and development. They also provided a molecular foundation for understanding the molecular regulatory mechanisms of maternal nutrition on fetal muscle growth and development, as well as for the development of new medications and the management of related metabolic diseases.