NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2019: Linking maternal investment and the neonate: Variation in maternal demand during lactation on offspring immune system development

该行动为2019财年美国国家科学基金会生物学博士后研究奖学金提供资金，扩大生物学中代表性不足群体的参与。该奖学金支持研究员的一项研究和培训计划，该计划将增加生物学中代表性不足的群体的参与。该项目的目标是利用综合方法解决新问题，并将科学研究作为赋予弱势群体权力的工具。哺乳（哺乳动物产奶）是哺乳动物生命周期中最需要能量的阶段，但也是哺乳动物繁殖中研究最少的方面。乳汁的成分受母体活动、行为和生理的影响，并对后代产生长期的影响。该项目旨在通过观察后代的发育和免疫防御，通过牛奶化合物和/或母亲行为的变化，了解哺乳是如何受到母亲疾病的影响的。通过研究这些关系，本研究将促进对母亲影响其后代的非遗传方式的理解，对生态生理学、乳制品和动物科学以及生物医学领域具有重要意义。该研究员的外展计划旨在促进和支持美国原住民学生参与科学，因为这些群体在高等教育和STEM学科中的代表性不足。该计划将本科生在研究环境中的指导与可持续的社区项目相结合。从该项目中收集到的见解将在生物教育研究的专业会议上传播，以便科学界可以利用这些见解进一步促进和加强多样性、包容性，并保留科学界代表性不足的群体。鉴于乳汁在新生儿免疫发育中的形成作用，本项目使用生活史理论框架系统地研究了相互冲突的母亲需求（即哺乳和免疫防御）在决定后代表型和发育中的作用。为了开展这项工作，将使用来自实验室和野生种群的免疫挑战雌性小鼠进行实验。研究员将观察母亲的舔舐和梳理行为，并使用全动物呼吸测量法来确定母亲的需求。牛奶成分和生物活性化合物的变化，包括负责被动抗体转移的分泌性免疫球蛋白A，也将被测量。母亲和后代的生理和免疫能力将使用多种技术来确定，包括功能分析（即对挑战的免疫反应），产仔和后代特征的形态学测量，以及与免疫防御和发育相关的基因和蛋白质的表达。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2019, Broadening Participation of Groups Under-represented in Biology. The fellowship supports a research and training plan for the Fellow that will increase the participation of groups underrepresented in biology. The goal of this project is to address novel questions using integrative approaches and to use scientific research as a tool to empower underrepresented groups. Lactation (milk production by mammals) is the most energetically-demanding phase of the mammalian life cycle, yet is the least studied aspect of mammalian reproduction. The composition of milk is affected by maternal activity, behavior, and maternal physiology, and can carry long-lasting impacts on offspring. This project aims to understand how lactation is affected by maternal illness by looking at offspring development and immune defense via changes in milk compounds and/or maternal behavior. Through investigating these relationships, this study will advance the understanding of the non-genetic ways that mothers can influence their offspring, with implications on the fields of ecological physiology, dairy and animal science, and biomedicine. The fellow's outreach program aims to promote and support the participation of Native American students in the sciences, as these populations are underrepresented within both higher education and STEM disciplines. The initiative combines mentorship for undergraduates in a research environment with a sustainable community-based program. Insights gleaned from this project will be disseminated at professional meetings on biology education research, so that they can be used by the scientific community to further promote and enhance diversity, inclusivity, and retention of underrepresented groups within the sciences. Given the formative role that milk plays in neonatal immune development, this project uses a life history theory framework to systematically investigate the role of conflicting maternal demands (i.e., lactation and immune defense) in determining offspring phenotype and development. To conduct this work, experiments will be conducted using immune-challenged female mice from both laboratory and wild-derived populations. The fellow will observe maternal licking and grooming behavior and will employ whole-animal respirometry to determine maternal demand. Variation in milk composition and bioactive compounds, including secretory immunoglobulin A, which is responsible for passive antibody transfer, will also be measured. Maternal and offspring physiology and immunocompetence will be determined using multiple techniques, including functional assays (i.e., immune response to a challenge), morphological measurements of litter and offspring characteristics, and expression of genes and proteins associated with immune defense and development.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.