Effects of Rumen-derived Bioactive Fatty Acids on Differentiation and Lipogenesis in Bovine Preadipocytes (see full paper)
The impact of extracellular matrix proteins on bovine fibro-adipogenic progenitor cell adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation in vitro (see full paper)
Using the cell culture model, we study bioactivity of certain rumen-derived fatty acids on preadipocytes from mice, lamb, and different fat depots in beef cattle. We employ fatty acid analysis on the cells to assess lipid quality, qPCR to quantify gene expression of key lipogenic enzymes, and cell staining to visualize and later quantify lipid accumulation (via an absorbance plate reader). To find out more, check out Maykal's Signature Work!
As an extension of this work, we perform explant studies (harvested tissues being treated with various bioactive fatty acids).
Additionally, we are working on a project that aims to determine how conventional and cultivated meat/fat compare to each other and optimizing differentiation in those cells to yield high-quality products. For more information, contact Maykal and Perri!
Moreover, we work with fibro-adipogenic progenitor (FAP) cells as they have the potential to differentiate into adipocytes, relevant to beef marbling. We employ immunofluorescent staining, qPCR and other methods of quantifying differentiation. Contact Perri for more information!
To learn more about the effects of animal-derived fats on human metabolism, we utilize an diet-induced obesity model. For 20+ weeks, we feed the mice either low-fat or high fat diets with enriched beef fat to understand how those affect insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, weight gain, blood glucose, liver fat accumulation, and much more. So far, we have looked at grass-fed and grain-fed beef fat, commercial pork lard, and high oleic pork lard as sources of fat for the diets and hope to publish the results soon enough! We perform Glucose Tolerance Tests, Insulin Tolerance Tests, MRI scans to visualize fat deposition, histology, Western Blot and fatty acid analysis on the tissues. If you would like to know more, reach out to Abigail and Annie!
Ruminant nutrition is imperative to yield high-quality, healthy products. Increasing marbling quantity and quality is needed to do that, but biohydrogenation in grown animals makes it difficult to manipulate fat metabolism. As a result, we are taking beef-on-dairy calves at birth and providing them with different milk replacer diets to assess the effects on fibro-adipogenic progenitor (FAP) hyperplasia and marbling contribution. The project will use a variety of techniques to assess growth and health, including blood sample analyses, daily inspections, biopsies, cell culture experiments and more. The animals will be finished on a grain diet and carcass quality would be assessed. We are set to begin in the fall 2025, and lots of interns would be needed-inquire if interested! Leader of the project would be Perri Gish assisted by Emrys Yang and Maykal Tsonov.