An in ovo 13C-tracer approach to explore liver intermediary metabolism in developing chicken embryos

摘要

The nutrient components of the egg are finite, thus the chicken embryo must properly coordinate the utilization of these substrates to support developmental requirements. However, the pathways that the macronutrients are allocated towards and the relative contributions the substrates make to the various pathway fluxes at the tissue and whole-body levels of the embryo are yet to be defined. The commercial availability of stable isotope tracers enables researchers to explore the intricacies of individual as well as connecting metabolic pathways networks. The objective of the present study was to employ a constant infusion protocol for the in ovo delivery of [13C6]glucose to attain steady-state labeling and high rates of incorporation of 13C into intermediates of gluconeogenesis-glycolysis and the Krebs cycle for accurate measurement of 13C-positional isotopomers for flux analysis.