scholarly journals Histone H3 lysine 27 trimethylation acts as an epigenetic barrier in porcine nuclear reprogramming

Reproduction ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 151 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bingteng Xie ◽  
Heng Zhang ◽  
Renyue Wei ◽  
Qiannan Li ◽  
Xiaogang Weng ◽  
...  

Aberrant epigenetic reprogramming is the main obstacle to the development of somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) embryos and the generation of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, which results in the low reprogramming efficiencies of SCNT and iPS. Histone H3 lysine 27 trimethylation (H3K27me3), as a repressive epigenetic mark, plays important roles in mammalian development and iPS induction. However, the reprogramming of H3K27me3 in pig remains elusive. In this study, we showed that H3K27me3 levels in porcine early cloned embryos were higher than that in IVF embryos. Then GSK126 and GSK-J4, two small molecule inhibitors of H3K27me3 methylase (EZH2) and demethylases (UTX/JMJD3), were used to regulate the H3K27me3 level. The results showed that H3K27me3 level was reduced in cloned embryos after treatment of PEF with 0.75 μM GSK126 for 48 h, incubation of one-cell reconstructed oocytes with 0.1 μM GSK126 and injection of antibody for EZH2 into oocyte. Meanwhile, the development of the cloned embryos was significantly improved after these treatments. On the contrary, GSK-J4 treatment increased the H3K27me3 level in cloned embryos and decreased the cloned embryonic development. Furthermore, iPS efficiency was both increased after reducing the H3K27me3 level in donor cells and in early reprogramming phase. In summary, our results suggest that H3K27me3 acts as an epigenetic barrier in SCNT and iPS reprogramming, and reduction of H3K27me3 level in donor cells and in early reprogramming phase can enhance both porcine SCNT and iPS efficiency.

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 236
Author(s):  
Kilian Simmet ◽  
Eckhard Wolf ◽  
Valeri Zakhartchenko

The nucleus of a differentiated cell can be reprogrammed to a totipotent state by exposure to the cytoplasm of an enucleated oocyte, and the reconstructed nuclear transfer embryo can give rise to an entire organism. Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) has important implications in animal biotechnology and provides a unique model for studying epigenetic barriers to successful nuclear reprogramming and for testing novel concepts to overcome them. While initial strategies aimed at modulating the global DNA methylation level and states of various histone protein modifications, recent studies use evidence-based approaches to influence specific epigenetic mechanisms in a targeted manner. In this review, we describe—based on the growing number of reports published during recent decades—in detail where, when, and how manipulations of the epigenome of donor cells and reconstructed SCNT embryos can be performed to optimize the process of molecular reprogramming and the outcome of nuclear transfer cloning.


2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 125
Author(s):  
J. Mao ◽  
M. T. Zhao ◽  
K. M. Whitworth ◽  
L. D. Spate ◽  
K. Lee ◽  
...  

Treatment of cloned embryos with histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) enhances developmental potential by alteration of epigenetic status. Oxamflatin is one of the potent HDACi. In our previous study, development to Day 7 blastocysts was enhanced when the porcine somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) embryos were treated with oxamflatin for 16 h. The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of oxamflatin treatment on XIST gene expression and DNA methylation of XIST gene and centromeric repeat element in Day 7 SCNT blastocysts. Somatic cell nuclear transfer was performed on enucleated metaphase II oocytes using a transgene female cell line. Cloned embryos were electrically fused and activated, treated with 150 nM oxamflatin for 16 h and cultured in PZM3 under 5% CO2, 5% oxygen, and 90% N2 for 7 days. Clones without Oxamflatin treatment were used as controls. For XIST methylation, IVF blastocysts at Day 7 were used as controls. Blastocysts at Day 7 were pooled from each treatment group and processed for methylation analysis by bisulfite sequencing and gene expression by quantitative real-time PCR. This experiment was replicated 4 times. The percent of CpG methylation in donor cells before SCNT was also determined. Data were analysed by using SAS version 9.3 (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA). In donor cells, 45.3 ± 5.8% of CpGs in a centromeric repeat element (9 CpGs in GenBank Z75640) were methylated. In the SCNT embryos, oxamflatin treatment reduced methylation from 27.3 ± 3.1% in the control to 18.2 ± 3.2% (P < 0.05). The average methylation in XIST (11 CpGs in GenBank KC149530.1) in donor cells was 42.4 ± 6.4%. This CpG island had 2 sites that were not methylated in any of the samples. However, the remaining 9 CpGs were methylated in 8 of 15 samples; for example, showing a parental imprint of ~50%. This implied that the CpG island studied represented the real-time status of the XIST locus in the cell and provides a good marker for reprogramming studies. XIST methylation level in Day 7 blastocysts was not different between oxamflatin (11.8 ± 3.2%) and control (11.8 ± 3.2%). However, XIST methylation in SCNT embryos was higher than in the same age IVF blastocysts (11.7 ± 1.7 v. 0.6 ± 2.4%; P < 0.01). Oxamflatin treatment tended to decrease XIST expression in Day 7 blastocysts compared with controls (18.8 ± 0.8 v. 21.7 ± 0.8; P < 0.1) as measured by real-time PCR. Interestingly, XIST gene expression was positively correlated with its methylation (P < 0.05). In conclusion, these results indicate that during nuclear reprogramming there was a dramatic decrease in DNA methylation from donor cells to Day 7 SCNT embryos. The higher methylation of XIST in SCNT embryos compared with IVF embryos suggests that the reprogramming of donor cells was not completed, which may be a contributor to low cloning efficiency. Oxamflatin treatment of SCNT embryos may enhance nuclear reprogramming by inhibiting XIST expression and reducing DNA methylation, resulting in better embryo development.


2013 ◽  
Vol 25 (8) ◽  
pp. 1142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Insung Hwang ◽  
Yeon Woo Jeong ◽  
Joung Joo Kim ◽  
Hyo Jeong Lee ◽  
Mina Kang ◽  
...  

Interspecies somatic cell nuclear transfer (iSCNT) is an emerging assisted reproductive technology (ART) for preserving Nature’s diversity. The scarcity of oocytes from some species makes utilisation of readily available oocytes inevitable. In the present study, we describe the successful cloning of coyotes (Canis latrans) through iSCNT using oocytes from domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris or dingo). Transfer of 320 interspecies-reconstructed embryos into 22 domestic dog recipients resulted in six pregnancies, from which eight viable offspring were delivered. Fusion rate and cloning efficiency during iSCNT cloning of coyotes were not significantly different from those observed during intraspecies cloning of domestic dogs. Using neonatal fibroblasts as donor cells significantly improved the cloning efficiency compared with cloning using adult fibroblast donor cells (P < 0.05). The use of domestic dog oocytes in the cloning of coyotes in the present study holds promise for cloning other endangered species in the Canidae family using similar techniques. However, there are still limitations of the iSCNT technology, as demonstrated by births of morphologically abnormal coyotes and the clones’ inheritance of maternal domestic dog mitochondrial DNA.


Reproduction ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 133 (1) ◽  
pp. 219-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Feikun Yang ◽  
Ru Hao ◽  
Barbara Kessler ◽  
Gottfried Brem ◽  
Eckhard Wolf ◽  
...  

The epigenetic status of a donor nucleus has an important effect on the developmental potential of embryos produced by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). In this study, we transferred cultured rabbit cumulus cells (RCC) and fetal fibroblasts (RFF) from genetically marked rabbits (Alicia/Basilea) into metaphase II oocytes and analyzed the levels of histone H3-lysine 9-lysine 14 acetylation (acH3K9/14) in donor cells and cloned embryos. We also assessed the correlation between the histone acetylation status of donor cells and cloned embryos and their developmental potential. To test whether alteration of the histone acetylation status affects development of cloned embryos, we treated donor cells with sodium butyrate (NaBu), a histone deacetylase inhibitor. Further, we tried to improve cloning efficiency by chimeric complementation of cloned embryos with blastomeres fromin vivofertilized or parthenogenetic embryos. The levels of acH3K9/14 were higher in RCCs than in RFFs (P<0.05). Although the type of donor cells did not affect development to blastocyst, after transfer into recipients, RCC cloned embryos induced a higher initial pregnancy rate as compared to RFF cloned embryos (40 vs 20%). However, almost all pregnancies with either type of cloned embryos were lost by the middle of gestation and only one fully developed, live RCC-derived rabbit was obtained. Treatment of RFFs with NaBu significantly increased the level of acH3K9/14 and the proportion of nuclear transfer embryos developing to blastocyst (49 vs 33% with non-treated RFF,P<0.05). The distribution of acH3K9/14 in either group of cloned embryos did not resemble that inin vivofertilized embryos suggesting that reprogramming of this epigenetic mark is aberrant in cloned rabbit embryos and cannot be corrected by treatment of donor cells with NaBu. Aggregation of embryos cloned from NaBu-treated RFFs with blastomeres fromin vivoderived embryos improved development to blastocyst, but no cloned offspring were obtained. Two live cloned rabbits were produced from this donor cell type only after aggregation of cloned embryos with a parthenogenetic blastomere. Our study demonstrates that the levels of histone acetylation in donor cells and cloned embryos correlate with their developmental potential and may be a useful epigenetic mark to predict efficiency of SCNT in rabbits.


2018 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 1376-1397 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanhui Zhai ◽  
Zhiren Zhang ◽  
Hao Yu ◽  
Li Su ◽  
Gang Yao ◽  
...  

Background/Aims: DNA methylation and histone modifications are essential epigenetic marks that can significantly affect the mammalian somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) embryo development. However, the mechanisms by which the DNA methylation affects the epigenetic reprogramming have not been fully elucidated. Methods: In our study, we used quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), Western blotting, immunofluorescence staining (IF) and sodium bisulfite genomic sequencing to examine the effects of RG108, a DNA methyltransferase inhibitor (DNMTi), on the dynamic pattern of DNA methylation and histone modifications in porcine SCNT embryos and investigate the mechanism by which the epigenome status of donor cells’ affects SCNT embryos development and the crosstalk between epigenetic signals. Results: Our results showed that active DNA demethylation was enhanced by the significantly improving expression levels of TET1, TET2, TET3 and 5hmC, and passive DNA demethylation was promoted by the remarkably inhibitory expression levels of DNMT1, DNMT3A and 5mC in embryos constructed from the fetal fibroblasts (FFs) treated with RG108 (RG-SCNT embryos) compared to the levels in embryos from control FFs (FF-SCNT embryos). The signal intensity of histone H3 lysine 4 trimethylation (H3K4me3) and histone H3 lysine 9 acetylation (H3K9Ac) was significantly increased and the expression levels of H3K4 methyltransferases were more than 2-fold higher expression in RG-SCNT embryos. RG-SCNT embryos had significantly higher cleavage and blastocyst rates (69.3±1.4%, and 24.72±2.3%, respectively) than FF-SCNT embryos (60.1±2.4% and 18.38±1.9%, respectively). Conclusion: Dynamic changes in DNA methylation caused by RG108 result in dynamic alterations in the patterns of H3K4me3, H3K9Ac and histone H3 lysine 9 trimethylation (H3K9me3), which leads to the activation of embryonic genome and epigenetic modification enzymes associated with H3K4 methylation, and contributes to reconstructing normal epigenetic modifications and improving the developmental efficiency of porcine SCNT embryos.


2015 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-15
Author(s):  
Bo Fu ◽  
Liang Ren ◽  
Di Liu ◽  
Jian-zhang Ma ◽  
Tie-zhu An ◽  
...  

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge A. Piedrahita ◽  
Natasha Olby

It has been 30 years since the first transgenic mouse was generated and 26 years since the first example of transferring the technology to livestock was published. While there was tremendous optimism in those initial years, with most convinced that genetically modified animals would play a significant role in agricultural production, that has not come to be. So at first sight one could conclude that this technology has, to a large extent, failed. On the contrary, it is believed that it has succeeded beyond our original expectations, and we are now at what is perhaps the most exciting time in the development and implementation of these technologies. The original goals, however, have drastically changed and it is now biomedical applications that are playing a central role in pushing both technical and scientific developments. The combination of advances in somatic cell nuclear transfer, the development of induced pluripotent stem cells and the completion of the sequencing of most livestock genomes ensures a bright and exciting future for this field, not only in livestock but also in companion animal species.


2007 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 168
Author(s):  
V. Zakhartchenko ◽  
F. Yang ◽  
R. Hao ◽  
E. Wolf

Epigenetic status of the genome of a donor nucleus is likely to be associated with the developmental potential of cloned embryos produced by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). Prevention of epigenetic errors by manipulation of the epigenetic status of donor cells is expected to result in improvement of cloning efficiency. In this study, we transferred cultured rabbit cumulus cells (RCC) and fetal fibroblasts (RFF) from genetically marked rabbits (Ali/Bas) into metaphase II (MII) oocytes and analyzed the levels of histone H3K9 acetylation in donor cells and cloned embryos. We also assessed the correlation between the histone acetylation status of donor cells and cloned embryos and their developmental potential. To test whether alteration of the histone acetylation status affects development of cloned embryos, we treated donor cells with sodium butyrate (NaBu), a histone deacetylase inhibitor. Further, we tried to improve cloning efficiency by chimeric complementation of cloned embryos with one or two blastomeres from in vitro-fertilized or parthenogenetic embryos. Histone acetylation in donor cells and cloned embryos was detected by anti-acH3K9 antibody using Western immunoblot analysis or immunochemistry, respectively. Data were analyzed by chi-square (developmental rates) or Student-Newman-Keuls (histone acetylation) test. The levels of acetylated histone H3K9 were higher in RCCs than in RFFs (P &lt; 0.05). Although the type of donor cells did not affect development to blastocyst, after transfer into recipients, RCC-cloned embryos induced a higher initial pregnancy rate as compared to RFF-cloned embryos (40% vs. 20%; P &lt; 0.05). However, almost all pregnancies with either type of cloned embryos were lost by the middle of gestation and only one fully developed; a live RCC-derived rabbit was obtained. Treatment of RFFs with NaBu significantly (P &lt; 0.05) increased the level of histone H3K9/14 acetylation and the proportion of nuclear transfer embryos developing to blastocyst (49% vs. 33% with non-treated RFF; P &lt; 0.05). The distribution of signals for acH3K9 in either group of cloned embryos did not resemble that in in vivo-fertilized embryos, suggesting that reprogramming of this epigenetic mark is aberrant in cloned rabbit embryos and cannot be corrected by treatment of donor cells with NaBu. Aggregation of embryos cloned from NaBu-treated RFFs with blastomeres from in vivo-derived embryos improved development to blastocyst, but no cloned offspring were obtained. Two live cloned rabbits were produced from this donor cell type only after aggregation of cloned embryos with a parthenogenetic blastomere. Our study demonstrates that the levels of histone acetylation in donor cells and cloned embryos correlate with their developmental potential and can be a useful epigenetic mark to predict efficiency of SCNT rabbits. This work was supported by the Bayerische Forschungsstiftung and by Therapeutic Human Polyclonals, Inc.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document