The projects investigates whether the exposure to nutrient restriction or excess the project aims to determine the impact of nutrient imbalance on the epigenetic signature and gene expression of bovine early embryos, providing a mechanistic rationale for the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) hypothesis.
Directly or indirectly affects the epigenetic remodeling, nuclear reprogramming, and lineage specification in the bovine early embryo. To this extent, a bovine in vitro model mimics the ‘in utero’ exposure to imbalanced energetic substrates and/or hormonal levels is being developed. The obtained embryos will be collected for genome-wide analyses using next-generation sequencing (NGS). The data will inform on whether a short exposure to energetic imbalance during a developmental stage characterized by intense epigenetic and nuclear remodeling, like the preimplantation embryo development, may be sufficient to re-program the epigenetic pattern, gene expression, and cell fate. The described experiments will be mainly performed at the Reproductive and Developmental Biology Laboratory (ReDBioLab) of the Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (DIVAS), the University of Milan, as part of a nationally-funded research project entitled ‘Developmental Origins of Health and Disease – Does health start in the womb? Impact of maternal nutrient restriction or excess on ovarian, cardiovascular and gastro-intestinal function in cattle female progeny’ conducted in collaboration with the Universities of Sassari, Pisa, and Piacenza.
MSc in Veterinary Biotechnology with honors, University of Milan (UNIMI).
Internship, Reproduction, and Developmental Biology Laboratory (ReDBioLab), University of Milan (UNIMI).
Master thesis: ‘Cellular and molecular characterization of bovine oocytes derived from ovaries with a low follicular reserve’.
Primary lab skills: cell culture, in vitro embryo production, immunofluorescence, image analysis.
Main research interests: reproduction and developmental biology, oocyte biology, embryology, developmental origins of health and disease.
Participation in research projects: investigation of the pattern of phosphorylation of the AKT enzyme in oocytes and cumulus cells; investigation of mitochondria patterns of distribution and activity during oocyte maturation; global histone acetylation profiling in bovine oocytes; investigation of early lineage specification markers in bovine embryos; effect of energetic content on the preimplantation embryo development.
Publications: Orcid ; IRIS-AIR
Supervisor Prof. Federica Franciosi
