Publications by authors named "Allison Duensing"

Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to explore how mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) lipid metabolism and maternal factors, aside from body mass, might impact the risk of obesity in children.
  • Researchers analyzed MSCs from infants of mothers with obesity or normal weight, using techniques like lipidomics and measuring various metabolic indicators during pregnancy.
  • Findings revealed distinct MSC clusters linked to maternal metabolic health, suggesting that these clusters could potentially forecast child obesity at a young age, although further validation is needed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The adipose-derived hormone leptin acts via its receptor (LepRb) in the brain to control energy balance. A potentially unidentified population of GABAergic hypothalamic LepRb neurons plays key roles in the restraint of food intake and body weight by leptin. To identify markers for candidate populations of LepRb neurons in an unbiased manner, we performed single-nucleus RNA-Seq of enriched mouse hypothalamic LepRb cells, identifying several previously unrecognized populations of hypothalamic LepRb neurons.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: Fat content of adipocytes derived from infant umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) predicts adiposity in children through 4 to 6 years of age. This study tested the hypothesis that MSCs from infants born to mothers with obesity (Ob-MSCs) exhibit adipocyte hypertrophy and perturbations in genes regulating adipogenesis compared with MSCs from infants of mothers with normal weight (NW-MSCs).

Methods: Adipogenesis was induced in MSCs embedded in three-dimensional hydrogel structures, and cell size and number were measured by three-dimensional imaging.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: In human studies, new model systems are needed for improved mechanistic investigation of developmental predisposition for metabolic disease but also to serve as benchmarks in early life prevention or intervention efforts. In this regard, human infant umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are an emerging tool. However, long-term clinical relevance to in vivo markers of metabolic disease is unknown.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Exposure to maternal obesity may promote metabolic dysfunction in offspring. We used infant mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to experimentally examine cellular mechanisms of intergenerational health transmission. Our earlier reports show MSCs collected from infants of mothers with obesity had a dichotomous distribution in metabolic efficiency; they were either efficient (Ef-Ob) or inefficient (In-Ob) with respect to fatty acid oxidation (FAO).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Successful copper(I)-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) reactions may be achieved by several methods. In this paper, four synthetic protocols were performed for direct comparison of time required for the synthesis, yield, and purity of the 1-1,2,3-triazole products. The methods with Cu(I) catalysts were conventional, microwave heating, solvent-free, and a method using glycerol solvent.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF