Transcriptional signatures throughout development: the effects of mouse embryo manipulation in vitro
Stressful environmental exposures incurred early in development can affect postnatal metabolic health and susceptibility to non-communicable diseases in adulthood, although the molecular mechanisms by which this occurs have yet to be elucidated. Here, we use a mouse model to investigate how assortedin vitroexposures restricted exclusively to the preimplantation period affect transcription both acutely in embryos and long term in subsequent offspring adult tissues, to determine if reliable transcriptional markers ofin vitrostress are present at specific developmental time points and throughout development. Eachin vitrofertilization or embryo culture environment led to a specific and unique blastocyst transcriptional profile, but we identified a common 18-gene and 9-pathway signature of preimplantation embryo manipulation that was present in allin vitroembryos irrespective of culture condition or method of fertilization. This fingerprint did not persist throughout development, and there was no clear transcriptional cohesion between adult IVF offspring tissues or compared to their preceding embryos, indicating a tissue-specific impact ofin vitrostress on gene expression. However, the transcriptional changes present in each IVF tissue were targeted by the same upstream transcriptional regulators, which provide insight as to how acute transcriptional responses to stressful environmental exposures might be preserved throughout development to influence adult gene expression.