# SC INBRE Administrative Supplement for Research on Women's Health

> **NIH NIH P20** · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA AT COLUMBIA · 2020 · $144,580

## Abstract

The goals of SC INBRE are to build biomedical research infrastructure, strengthen undergraduate research
training in South Carolina, and to promote access to health research careers for all South Carolina students. To
accomplish these goals, SC INBRE’s network includes comprehensive research universities and predominately
undergraduate institutions (PUIs) and provides support for faculty research projects. The projects submitted in
this proposal reflect the scientific scope of SC INBRE.
USC Project: Cardiac extracellular matrix remodeling failure in postpartum maternal health
Postpartum cardiomyopathy is a condition in women in which the mother’s enlarged pregnant heart fails to return
to a non-pregnant state within the postpartum period. The disease can progress to heart failure. Our long term
goals of this research are to understand why postpartum cardiomyopathy occurs, identify biomarkers to screen
women at risk, and develop a preventative treatment. In this proposal we will study a mouse model of postpartum
cardiomyopathy, mice overexpressing membrane type 1 matrix metalloproteinase (MT1-MMP OE) in the heart,
to better understand the human condition. Our specific aim is to compare the changes in heart function, structure,
matrix molecules, and mortality in wildtype and cardiac-restricted MT1-MMP-over expression mice during
pregnancy and the postpartum period. We will compare the mortality of wildtype mice and MT1-MMP OE mice
during first pregnancies and immediate second pregnancies during the first six weeks postpartum. We will
evaluate changes in left ventricular function, cardiac structure and extracellular cellular matrix proteins and their
activities and mRNA levels during pregnancy and postpartum in wildtype and MT1-MMP OE mice.
Furman Project: Sex differences in hypothalamic neuroinflammation due to maternal high fat diet
Maternal high fat diet consumption has long-term consequences on offspring, including increased risk for obesity
and diabetes. Rodent studies demonstrate activation of the maternal immune system and increased
inflammation in offspring due to maternal consumption of a high fat diet prior to and during pregnancy as well as
during lactation. A neuroinflammatory response in the hypothalamus can impair energy balance and induce
insulin resistance, further perpetuating obesity and diabetes in future generations. Since male mice exhibit
greater weight gain and hypothalamic microglial activation compared to female mice following direct consumption
of a high fat diet, we expect sex differences in offspring born to dams fed a high fat diet. We hypothesize that
maternal high fat diet will lead to increased pro-inflammatory markers and microgliosis in the hypothalamus of
male compared to female offspring from maternal high fat diet consumption. We will test this hypothesis via
analysis of neuroinflammation in the hypothalamus using targeted morphological assessments of inflammatory
cell components/reactivity and unbiased transcrip...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10153349
- **Project number:** 3P20GM103499-20S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA AT COLUMBIA
- **Principal Investigator:** EDIE C GOLDSMITH
- **Activity code:** P20 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $144,580
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2001-09-30 → 2025-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10153349

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10153349, SC INBRE Administrative Supplement for Research on Women's Health (3P20GM103499-20S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-10 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10153349. Licensed CC0.

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