Preeclampsia (PE) is a devastating disorder of pregnancy that classically presents with maternal hypertension and proteinuria after 20 wk of gestation. In addition to being a leading cause of maternal and fetal morbidity/mortality, epidemiological and prospective studies have revealed long-term consequences for both the mother and baby of preeclamptic pregnancies, including chronic hypertension as well as other cardiovascular diseases and metabolic derangements. To better understand the effect of in utero exposure of PE on offspring, we utilized the BPH/5 mouse, a spontaneous model of the maternal and fetal PE syndrome. We hypothesized that young BPH/5 offspring would have altered metabolic and cardiovascular phenotypes. Indeed, BPH/5 growth-restricted offspring showed excess catch-up growth by early adulthood due to hyperphagia and increased white adipose tissue (WAT) accumulation, with inflammation markers isolated to the reproductive WAT depot only. Both excessive WAT accumulation and the inflammatory WAT phenotype were corrected by pair-feeding young BPH/5 female mice. We also found that young BPH/5 female mice showed evidence of leptin resistance. Indeed, chronic hyperleptinemia has been shown to characterize other rodent models of PE; however, the maternal metabolic profile before pregnancy has not been fully understood. Furthermore, we found that these mice show signs of cardiovascular anomalies (hypertension and cardiomegaly) and altered signaling within the reproductive axis in early life. Future studies will involve challenging the physiological metabolic state of BPH/5 mice through pair-feeding to reduce WAT before pregnancy and determining its causal role in adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Pathways localizing proteins to their sites of action are essential for eukaryotic cell organization and function. Although mechanisms of protein targeting to many organelles have been defined, how proteins, such as metabolic enzymes, target from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to cellular lipid droplets (LDs) is poorly understood. Here we identify two distinct pathways for ER-to-LD protein targeting: early targeting at LD formation sites during formation, and late targeting to mature LDs after their formation. Using systematic, unbiased approaches in Drosophila cells, we identified specific membrane-fusion machinery, including regulators, a tether and SNARE proteins, that are required for the late targeting pathway. Components of this fusion machinery localize to LD–ER interfaces and organize at ER exit sites. We identified multiple cargoes for early and late ER-to-LD targeting pathways. Our findings provide a model for how proteins target to LDs from the ER either during LD formation or by protein-catalysed formation of membrane bridges.

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For the syntheses of LiNi 1-y Fe y O 2 (0.000 B y B 0.300), mixtures of the starting materials with the desired compositions were preheated in an air atmosphere at 400°C for 30 min and calcined in air at 700°C for 48 h. The phases appearing in the intermediate reaction steps for the formation of lithium nickel oxide are deduced from the DTA analysis. XRD analysis, FE-SEM observation, FTIR analysis and electrochemical measurement were performed for the synthesized Li 1-z (Ni 1-y Fe y ) 1?z O 2 (0.000 B y B 0.300) samples. The samples of Li 1-z (Ni 1-y Fe y ) 1?z O 2 with y = 0.025 and 0.050 have higher first discharge capacities than Li 1-z (Ni 1-y Fe y ) 1?z O 2 with y = 0.000 and better or similar cycling performance at the 0.1 C rate in the voltage range of 2.7-4.2 V. Similar results have not previously been reported except for Co-substituted LiNiO 2 . The sample Li 1-z (Ni 0.975 Fe 0.025 ) 1?z O 2 has the highest first discharge capacity (176.5 mAh g -1 ). Rietveld refinement of the XRD patterns of LiNi 1-y Fe y O 2 (0.000 \ y B 0.100) from a starting structure model [Li,Ni] 3b [Li,Ni,Fe] 3a [O 2 ] 6c showed that cation disordering occurred in the samples.