# Role of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in myelinationduring development

> **NIH NIH F32** · UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER · 2024 · $76,756

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
 Maternal nutrition plays an indispensable role in fetal and infant brain development. Accordingly,
nutritional deficiencies during this critical window can cause neurodevelopmental disorders. Yet, exactly how
nutrients contribute to the cellular and molecular mechanisms governing neurodevelopment is largely unknown.
Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), an omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (n-3 PUFA) consumed from fatty fish,
accumulates in the phospholipids of cell membranes and is required for brain growth and maturation. Although
DHA can be biosynthesized, offspring primarily rely on maternal DHA to meet their needs. Importantly, a global
shift to Western-style diets has also led to decreased DHA intakes, raising concerns about the
neurodevelopmental consequences for offspring.
 Humans with low DHA status display white matter defects and cognitive and behavioral deficits.
Furthermore, DHA-deficient animals exhibit pro-inflammatory responses from microglia, the brain’s resident
immune cells. Microglia also regulate the development and elimination of myelin, the axon insulator that
increases the speed of nerve impulses and gives white matter its color. Indeed, novel work from our lab has
shown that microglia phagocytose excess myelin during normal development. However, it is not known whether
the neuroinflammatory and microglial consequences of low DHA status culminate in the abnormal regulation of
myelination.
 Using a zebrafish model, I will generate DHA-depleted offspring via genetic and maternal diet strategies.
By employing powerful single-cell transcriptomic and in vivo imaging techniques, I will investigate whether low
DHA status alters: Inflammatory signaling and phagocytosis-related gene expression in microglia (Aim 1); myelin
development and morphology (Aim 2); and the microglial phagocytosis of myelin sheaths (Aim 3). This work
could reveal a cellular mechanism by which low DHA status leads to white matter defects and provide insight
into nutritional strategies that optimize infant health and prevent neurodevelopmental disorders.
 Through my proposed training at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, I will gain the
conceptual, technical, and professional skills necessary to establish my independent research niche at the
intersection of nutrition and developmental neurobiology.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10896908
- **Project number:** 5F32NS131175-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER
- **Principal Investigator:** Katherine Marie Ranard
- **Activity code:** F32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $76,756
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-05-01 → 2025-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10896908

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10896908, Role of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in myelinationduring development (5F32NS131175-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10896908. Licensed CC0.

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