Renal proteomics of male offspring exposed to maternal protein restriction: molecular, epigenetic, and nephron-specific signatures of metabolic programming Danielle Amanda Niz Alvarez, Isabelle Tenori Ribeiro, Matheus Naia Fioretto, Marina Pereira Pires, Luisa Annibal Barata, Flávia Alessandra Maciel, Luiz Marcos Frediane Portela, Renato Mattos, Hecttor Sebastian Baptista, Pedro Menchini Vitali¹, Vinicius Alexandre Andrade Felipe, Marcel Rodrigues Ferreira, Elena Zambrano, Patrícia Aline Boer, Luis Antonio Justulin Journal of Physiology and Biochemistry, 2026 Chronic kidney disease is an increasing global public health concern, and the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) concept proposes that adverse conditions during critical developmental windows predispose offspring to chronic disorders later in life. Maternal protein restriction (MPR), a well-established experimental model reflecting food insecurity, has been shown to impair nephrogenesis and promote long-term renal dysfunction. In this study, we investigated renal metabolic–epigenetic programming induced by gestational and lactational MPR in post-weaning male rats using a global kidney proteomic approach. MPR altered renal structure and profoundly dysregulated protein networks, characterized by downregulation of energy metabolism, ion transport, cytoskeletal organization, membrane integrity, and mitochondrial function, alongside upregulation of innate immune pathways, glutathione metabolism, vesicular trafficking, and cytoskeletal dynamics. Integrated pathway and disease enrichment analyses revealed the potential risk to hypertension, acid–base imbalance, renal tubular transport disorders, nephrosis, and renal failure. Key differentially expressed proteins (e.g., GPX1, CYCS, ATP1A2/ATP1B1, TUBB/TUBA isoforms, ANPEP, and metabolic enzymes) emerged as potential biomarkers of renal metabolic–epigenetic programming. Collectively, these findings identify molecular signatures that link early-life protein restriction to long-term risk of kidney disease and provide mechanistic insight into the nephron- and cell-specific consequences of MPR.
Placental programming in maternal malnutrition as a crucial determinant of offspring health: A critical-interpretative narrative review Luisa Annibal Barata, Matheus Naia Fioretto, Natália Magosso, Flávia Alessandra Maciel, Isabelle Tenori Ribeiro, Patrick Vieira de Souza, Ana Luiza Romano Gabriel, Wellerson Rodrigo Scarano, Luis Antonio Justulin Clinical Nutrition Espen, 2026 Maternal malnutrition during pregnancy is a critical environmental factor that can reprogram placental development and, consequently, influence fetal growth and offspring health across the lifespan. According to the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) theory, adverse intrauterine conditions - such as nutrient deficiencies or excesses - may induce morphological and functional alterations in the placenta, thereby increasing the risk of chronic noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in adulthood. This critical-interpretative narrative review compiles evidence on how maternal nutritional disorders, including protein restriction, micronutrient deficiencies, and high-fat diets, compromise placental efficiency by altering nutrient transport, hormonal signaling, and epigenetic regulation. We discuss the interplay between placental dysfunction, impaired fetal development, and increased disease susceptibility in offspring from a sex-specific perspective, highlighting the more adaptive placental responses observed in females and the more pronounced adverse effects and underlying potential pathophysiological pathways in males. Drawing on established studies, we synthesize insights and potential molecular and biochemical mechanisms of placental dysregulation, and propose new directions for research that address not only the consequences for offspring and metabolic programming but also the implications for women's health during critical periods, such as pregnancy. From a DOHaD perspective, this review underscores the central role of the placenta as a mediator between the intrauterine environment and health outcomes, pointing toward preventive strategies and future research approaches.
Nanoplastic-driven white pollution: Biochemical insights into ecosystem and human health impacts - a critical-interpretative narrative review Matheus Naia Fioretto, Natália Magosso, Patrick Vieira de Souza, Mirella Franco Moreira, Vanessa Aguiar Rocha, Victória Cristina Pinha, Vinicius Luís Rocha da Silva Maria, Luis Antonio Justulin, Wellerson Rodrigo Scarano Biochimie, 2026 Plastic production has become a global challenge, and its accelerated growth and widespread waste release justify the characterization of the current era as the "Age of Plastic". The concern is how additives or plastic degradation can impact different ecosystems and human health. Microplastics and certain plastic additives (e.g., phthalates) are already well-established in the literature as endocrine disruptors, posing a risk to human health. However, little is known about these issues regarding Nanoplastics (NPs). Therefore, this narrative review aimed to examine the potential biochemical disruptions induced by NPs across multiple organs and biological systems, while also considering their ecological, ecosystem-level, and human health risks. The NPs affect mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum in experimental models and across various organs, affecting lipid, energy, and amino acid metabolism. In the environmental context, NPs can interfere with xylem/phloem transport, root absorptive function, and photosynthesis in both terrestrial and aquatic models. This raises concerns not only at the ecological levels, but also for production and the economy, with potential risks to human health through food. This review strengthens the understanding of environmental toxicology and the imminent risks of NPs on various ecosystems, highlighting the disruptions of these nanomolecules, whether isolated or adsorbed, to important catalytic pathways and metabolic pathways in an organ-wide manner.
Understanding Intracellular Transport Impairments in Maternal Protein Restriction: A Scoping Review of DOHaD-Driven Cellular Biology Perspective Matheus Naia Fioretto, Isabelle Tenori Ribeiro, Maria Clara Caruso Corso, Sofia Francisco Tellaroli, Carla Beatriz Correa de Souza, Wellerson Rodrigo Scarano, Luis Antonio Justulin Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics, 2026 Malnutrition remains a major global socioeconomic challenge. When it occurs during critical developmental windows (pregnancy and lactation), it can impair maternal health and predispose offspring to long-term diseases, a central concept within the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD). Maternal Protein Restriction (MPR) is a widely used experimental model in this field and is known to disrupt multiple organs and systems in the offspring, increasing susceptibility to metabolic disorders. However, the cellular pathways underlying these outcomes remain insufficiently explored, particularly vesicular transport and the endomembrane system. This review examined the effects of MPR on organelles related to vesicular dynamics. Following predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria, 20 PubMed articles were selected, addressing MPR-induced alterations in the cytoskeleton, endoplasmic reticulum (ER), Golgi, endocytosis, and exocytosis. Overall, evidence indicates that MPR disrupts cytoskeletal integrity—affecting actin networks in renal, adipose, muscle, and neural cells. MPR compromises ER and Golgi activities in several organs. In the placenta, endocytic activity was consistently elevated (macropinocytosis). Exocytosis was also perturbed, contributing to lipid accumulation and inflammation. Systemically, MPR altered circulating amino acid levels, impaired hematological parameters, reduced leukocyte migration, and enhanced placental amino acid transport. These findings demonstrate that MPR destabilizes cytoskeletal architecture, ER–Golgi function, and vesicular transport across multiple offspring tissues, identifying the endomembrane system as a critical target of developmental programming. These alterations suggest persistent vulnerabilities in cellular homeostasis. Therefore, we propose the term maternal diet–dependent cellular-vesicular disorders (MDCVD), establishing a conceptual framework for future mechanistic and translational studies.
Phytochemical frontiers and molecular targets in liver cancer: A systematic bibliometric curation of natural compounds for HCC therapy (2015–2025) Fábio Rodrigues Ferreira Seiva, Milena Cremer de Souza, Wesley Ladeira Caputo, Maria Luisa Gonçalves Agneis, Matheus Ribas de Almeida, et al. Biomedicine and Pharmacotherapy, 2026 Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is an aggressive malignancy with limited treatment options. While natural products offer a vast chemical space for drug discovery, the literature at the oncology-phytochemistry interface remains fragmented. This study provides a high-resolution bibliometric curation to map research trends and pharmacological hotspots in HCC therapy over the last decade. A systematic search was conducted via Scopus for studies published between 2015 and 2025. Following manual curation of 1477 eligible articles, VOSviewer and the Bibliometrix R-package were utilized for analysis. A distinctive feature was the integration of taxonomic validation and manual text mining to ensure high accuracy of botanical and phytochemical data. Our findings reveal an exponential growth in scientific production, led by China, the USA, and India. The editorial landscape spans over 400 journals and 90 publishers, such as Elsevier, Frontiers, MDPI and Wiley. Phytomedicine and Journal of Ethnopharmacology were the most prolific journals. We identified over 700 distinct phytochemicals, notably quercetin, curcumin, and resveratrol, and approximately 600 plant species. Thematic clustering demonstrated that these compounds modulate critical cellular events, including apoptosis, oxidative stress, cell-cycle checkpoints, epithelial-mesenquimal transition, and distinct but complementary signaling pathway, such as Bax-Bcl-2, PI3K/Akt, mTOR, VEGF, SIRT1/NRF2, MAPK/ERK, CHOP and GRP78, and also different classes of miRNAs. Nanotechnology-based delivery systems emerged as a major trend to overcome bioavailability challenges. This bibliometric curation provides a mapping of the field, identifying critical thematic transitions and current knowledge gaps. The systematic cataloging of authors, institutions, publishers, journals, and phytochemicals offers a foundation for prioritizing molecules in future trials, providing objective insights for drug discovery and potential novel targeted therapies for HCC.
Omics-based molecular signatures of adrenal, kidney, and lung development in male rat offspring exposed to maternal protein restriction Matheus N. Fioretto, Marcel R. Ferreira, Gabriel H. Caxali, Patrick V. de Souza, Flávia A. Maciel, Isabelle T. Ribeiro, Luisa A. Barata, Ana Lívia S. Vieira, Marina P. Pires, Lucas S. Lemos, Renato Mattos, Flávia K. Delella, Wellerson R. Scarano, Elena Zambrano, Luis A. Justulin Clinical Nutrition, 2026 BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Maternal malnutrition remains a global social and public health challenge, with long-lasting effects on offspring's health, as proposed by the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) theory. Here, we investigated the impact of maternal protein restriction (MPR) during gestation and lactation on the global proteomic profiles of the kidneys, lungs, and adrenal glands in post-weaning male rats. METHODS: Using in silico strategies applied to the proteomic profile, integrating curated databases and complementary statistical approaches, we performed a multiscale biological mapping encompassing macrobiological processes (biological pathways), microbiological levels (cellular, molecular, biochemical, and nuclear features), developmental disease susceptibility, epigenetic regulation, and cell-type-specific localization of shared biomarkers, which were further supported by gene expression validation. RESULTS: Thirty-six differentially expressed proteins (DEP) were commonly dysregulated across the three organs, enriching pathways related to cellular transport, stress response, chaperone, amino acid metabolism, pyruvate metabolism, the Krebs cycle, and cell cycle regulation (adjusted p-value <0.05). Enrichment analyses indicated alterations in cytoskeletal and nuclear components, with molecular functions involving GTP binding, nucleoside activity, ubiquitination, RNA processing, and redox homeostasis (p < 0.05). Biochemical pathways highlighted disruptions in NAD/NADH balance, energy metabolism, oxygen transport, and purine/pyrimidine metabolism (based on p-value and FDR), with chromosomal enrichment. Interaction networks revealed clusters involving cytoskeletal organization, hemostasis, and energy metabolism, with strong epigenetic associations involving miR-3064-3p/3065-3p (TUBA1A), miR-350/3585-5p (MDH1), and miR-455-3p/92a-1-5p (H2AZ1). These three proteins emerged as potential early-life molecular markers of MPR. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, this study provides a systems-level overview of MPR effects on adrenal, kidney, and lung development, identifying shared proteomic signatures and candidate biomarkers predictive of developmental impairment and long-term risk for chronic metabolic disease.
Gestational and lactational exposure to phthalates and nanoplastics induces inflammation and oxidative imbalance in the prostate of adult rats Vanessa A Rocha, Marina Cavalheiro, Patrick V Souza, Natalia Magosso, Matheus N Fioretto, Mirella F Moreira, Victoria C Pinha, Ariana M Aquino, Debora H Quadreli, Glaura S A Fernandes, Luis A Justulin, Jodi A Flaws, Wellerson R Scarano Toxicological Sciences an Official Journal of the Society of Toxicology, 2026 The intrauterine microenvironment is highly susceptible to environmental disturbances, which may result in persistent effects on offspring health. Given that plastic-derived contaminants can cross the placental barrier and act as endocrine-disrupting chemicals, this study evaluated the effects of perinatal exposure to an environmentally relevant phthalate mixture (PM) and nanoplastics (NPs) on the prostate of adult rats. Pregnant Sprague–Dawley rats were allocated into 6 experimental groups: Ctrl (vehicle), T1 (20 μg/kg/d PM), T2 (200 mg/kg/d PM), T3 (NPs: 1.0 mg/kg/d), T4 (20 μg PM + NPs), and T5 (200 mg PM + NPs). Treatments were administered orally from gestational day 10 to postnatal day (PND) 21. Male offspring were euthanized on PND120, and ventral prostate samples were collected. Histological evaluation revealed increased inflammatory foci and stromal expansion in all exposed groups (T1–T5), along with reduced luminal compartment in T1, T3, and T4 compared with controls. All treated groups showed increased total and degranulated mast cells and enhanced androgen receptor immunoreactivity. Tumor necrosis factor (Tnf) expression was increased in all exposure groups, whereas Rela gene expression was elevated in the T4 and T5 groups. Oxidative stress analysis demonstrated increased lipid peroxidation and glutathione S-transferase (GST) activity in all treated animals. Catalase (CAT) activity was reduced in T1, T3, and T5, whereas superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity increased in T3, T4, and T5. Elevated levels of reduced, oxidized, and total glutathione (GSH, GSSG, tGSH) were observed in T5. Overall, perinatal exposure to PM and NPs induced persistent inflammation and altered redox status in the prostate, increasing susceptibility to pathological disorders.
Maternal protein restriction impairs intestinal morphophysiology and antioxidant system in young male offspring rats Isabela Baptista Leal dos Santos, Matheus Naia Fioretto, Miguel Silingardi Jorge, Luísa Annibal Barata, Isabelle Tenori Ribeiro, André Matheus Leandro Franzolin, Erick Guilherme Stoppa, Renato Mattos, Luiz Marcos Frediane Portela, Maycon Tavares Emílio Silva, Sérgio Alexandre Alcântara dos Santos, José Ricardo de Arruda Miranda, Clélia Akiko Hiruma Lima, Luis Antonio Justulin Experimental Cell Research, 2025
Maternal protein restriction combined with postnatal sugar consumption alters liver proteomic profile and metabolic pathways in adult male offspring rats Isabelle Tenori Ribeiro, Matheus Naia Fioretto, Sérgio Alexandre Alcantara dos Santos, Ketlin Thassiani Colombelli, Luiz Marcos Frediani Portela, Marcus Vinicius Niz Alvarez, Pedro de Magalhães Padilha, Aislan Quintiliano Delgado, Marcus Vinicius Lage Silva Giaculi Marques, José Roberto Bosqueiro, Fábio Rodrigues Ferreira Seiva, Luís Fernando Barbisan, Antonio Marcus de Andrade Paes, Elena Zambrano, Luis Antonio Justulin Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology, 2024
Impact of maternal protein restriction on the proteomic landscape of male rat lungs across the lifespan Matheus Naia Fioretto, Flávia Alessandra Maciel, Luísa Annibal Barata, Isabelle Tenori Ribeiro, Carolina Beatriz Pinheiro Basso, Marcel Rodrigues Ferreira, Sérgio Alexandre Alcantara dos Santos, Renato Mattos, Hecttor Sebastian Baptista, Luiz Marcos Frediane Portela, Pedro Magalhães Padilha, Sérgio Luis Felisbino, Wellerson Rodrigo Scarano, Elena Zambrano, Luis Antonio Justulin Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology, 2024
Integrative Analysis of the Ethanol Tolerance of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Ivan Rodrigo Wolf, Lucas Farinazzo Marques, Lauana Fogaça de Almeida, Lucas Cardoso Lázari, Leonardo Nazário de Moraes, Luiz Henrique Cardoso, Camila Cristina de Oliveira Alves, Rafael Takahiro Nakajima, Amanda Piveta Schnepper, Marjorie de Assis Golim, Thais Regiani Cataldi, Jeroen G. Nijland, Camila Moreira Pinto, Matheus Naia Fioretto, Rodrigo Oliveira Almeida, Arnold J. M. Driessen, Rafael Plana Simōes, Mônica Veneziano Labate, Rejane Maria Tommasini Grotto, Carlos Alberto Labate, Ary Fernandes Junior, Luis Antonio Justulin, Rafael Luiz Buogo Coan, Érica Ramos, Fabiana Barcelos Furtado, Cesar Martins, Guilherme Targino Valente International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2023
Arsenic exposure during prepuberty alters prostate maturation in pubescent rats Ariana M. Aquino, Giovanna C. Salata, Cristiane F. Pinho, André T.A.G. de Freitas, Larissa L. Périco, Gláucia E.M. de Lion Siervo, Leonardo O. Mendes, Paloma Da Cunha De Medeiros, Luís A. Justulin, Glaura S.A. Fernandes, Juliana E. Perobelli, Wellerson R. Scarano Reproductive Toxicology, 2019
Fibrin biopolymer as scaffold candidate to treat bone defects in rats Claudia Vilalva Cassaro, Luis Antonio Justulin Jr., Patrícia Rodrigues de Lima, Marjorie de Assis Golim, Natália Perussi Biscola, Mateus Vidigal de Castro, Alexandre Leite Rodrigues de Oliveira, Danuta Pulz Doiche, Elenize Jamas Pereira, Rui Seabra Ferreira Jr., Benedito Barraviera Journal of Venomous Animals and Toxins Including Tropical Diseases, 2019
Sex-specific effects of Eugenia punicifolia extract on gastric ulcer healing in rats Larissa Lucena Périco, Vinícius Peixoto Rodrigues, Rie Ohara, Gabriela Bueno, Vânia Vasti Alfieri Nunes, Raquel de Cássia dos Santos, Ana Carolina Lima Camargo, Luis Antônio Justulin Júnior, Sérgio Faloni de Andrade, Viviane Miranda Bispo Steimbach, Luísa Mota da Silva, Lúcia Regina Machado da Rocha, Wagner Vilegas, Catarina dos Santos, Clélia Akiko Hiruma-Lima World Journal of Gastroenterology, 2018
Collagen quantification in rabbit dermal wounds treated with heterologous platelet-rich plasma gel Maria Elisa Marin Marques, Cecília Braga Laposy, Mariana Lucas Dos Santos Silva, Maria Rosa Santos Breda, Mayara Mascaro Matsumoto, Luis Antonio Justulin Junior, Gisele Alborghetti Nai, Guilherme Akio Tamura Ozaki, José Carlos Camargo Filho, Rosa Maria Barilli Nogueira Semina Ciencias Agrarias, 2017
Ventricular remodeling induced by tissue vitamin A deficiency in rats Paula S. Azevedo, Marcos F. Minicucci, Fernanda Chiuso-Minicucci, Luis A. Justulin Jr, Luiz S. Matsubara, Beatriz B. Matsubara, Ethel Novelli, Fabio Seiva, Giovanna Ebaid, Alvaro O. Campana, Leonardo A.M. Zornoff, Sergio A.R. Paiva Cellular Physiology and Biochemistry, 2010