Dynamic changes in histone acetylation during sheep oocyte maturation

The changes in histone acetylation are not always consistent in various cell types and at different developmental stages. We immunostained specific antibodies against acetylated lysine 9 of histone H3 and acetylated lysines 5 and 12 of histone H4 in an effort to understand the detailed changes in histone acetylation during sheep oocyte meiosis. We found that the acetylation fluorescence signals of H3/K9 and H4/K12 on chromatin appeared intensively in the germinal vesicle (GV), late-GV (L-GV), and germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD) stages and became weak in metaphase I (MI); however staining reappeared in anaphase I-telophase-I (AI-TI) and metaphase II (MII). Furthermore, staining was detected in the first polar bodies. The fluorescence signals of H4/K5 first appeared in the MI stage and became intensive in the AI-TI stage; however they were barely detectable in MII stage chromosomes and first polar bodies. We conclude that the acetylation patterns of H3/K9 and H4/K12 during oocyte meiotic maturation are similar and that the pattern of H4/K5 is unique.     

Testis-specific histone variants H2AL1/2 rapidly disappear from paternal heterochromatin after fertilization

Before fertilization, the genome packaging of male and female gametes is very different. Indeed, whereas the female haploid genome is associated with histones in a somatic-like chromatin structure, most of the male genome is tightly bound to protamines. However, it has recently been demonstrated that the pericentric heterochromatin regions of the male genome are associated with specific H2A-like histone variants, named H2AL1 and H2AL2, suggesting a heterogeneous organization. The fate and role of the sex-specific genome packaging transmitted by germinal cells to the embryo are not well understood. The aim of the present study was to follow reprogramming of the parental genomes in early embryos after in vivo fertilization. We show here that two typical epigenetic markers, trimethylated lysine 9 of histone H3 (TriMethylH3K9) and acetylated H4, are asymmetrically distributed between the parental genomes in one-cell mouse embryos, confirming data from embryos obtained after intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) or in vitro fertilization (IVF). Indeed, whereas the maternal genome is highly enriched with trimethylH3K9, this mark is not detected in the paternal genome. On the contrary, histone H4 incorporated in the paternal genome is highly acetylated at an early stage, while in the maternal pronucleus, the level of acetylated H4 remains low in early one-cell embryos and becomes enriched at a later stage. Moreover, our results suggest a very quick disappearance of histone H2A variants H2AL1 and H2Al2 from the paternal pericentric heterochromatin regions after sperm-egg fusion.     

H3S10 Phosphorylation Marks Constitutive Heterochromatin During Interphase in Early Mouse Embryos Until the 4-Cell Stage

Phosphorylation of histone H3 at Ser10 (H3S10P) has been linked to a variety of cellular processes, such as chromosome condensation and gene activation/silencing. Remarkably, in mammalian somatic cells, H3S10P initiates in the pericentromeric heterochromatin during the late G2 phase, and phosphorylation spreads throughout the chromosomes arms in prophase, being maintained until the onset of anaphase when it gets dephosphorylated. Considerable studies have been carried out about H3S10P in different organisms; however, there is little information about this histone modification in mammalian embryos. We hypothesized that this epigenetic modification could also be a marker of pericentromeric heterochromatin in preimplantation embryos. We therefore followed the H3S10P distribution pattern in the G1/S and G2 phases through the entire preimplantation development in in vivo mouse embryos. We paid special attention to its localization relative to another pericentromeric heterochromatin marker, HP1β and performed immunoFISH using specific pericentromeric heterochromatin probes. Our results indicate that H3S10P presents a remarkable distribution pattern in preimplantation mouse embryos until the 4-cell stage and is a better marker of pericentromeric heterochromatin than HP1β. After the 8-cell stage, H3S10P kinetic is more similar to the somatic one, initiating during G2 in chromocenters and disappearing upon telophase. Based on these findings, we believe that H3S10P is a good marker of pericentromeric heterochromatin, especially in the late 1- and 2-cell stages as it labels both parental genomes and that it can be used to further investigate epigenetic regulation and heterochromatin mechanisms in early preimplantation embryos.     

精子发生及冷冻过程中表观遗传调控的研究进展

表观遗传调控是不涉及DNA序列改变而引起基因可遗传变化的机制,包括组蛋白修饰、非编码RNAs的调控及DNA特定碱基结构的修饰,它在基因表达过程中起着十分重要的作用。在精子发生过程中,机体通过表观遗传修饰从而确保精子具有正常的功能。冷冻过程会造成精子不可逆的损伤,这些冷冻损伤可能与精子表观遗传变化有关。作者对精子发生及冷冻保存过程中的表观遗传调控机制进行了综述。     

毛壳素对绒山羊ADSCs组蛋白甲基化修饰的影响研究

为了探究毛壳素对绒山羊脂肪间充质干细胞(gADSCs)组蛋白甲基化修饰差异的影响。本研究采用不同浓度的毛壳素对gADSCs进行不同时间的处理，以期筛选出对细胞活性影响最低且能够最大程度抑制gADSCs组蛋白甲基化的药物处理浓度及时间。以最适药物浓度和时间处理组为试验组，无药物处理组为对照组，通过实时荧光定量PCR检测H3K9 me2和H3K9 me3甲基化相关酶和胚胎发育多潜能基因mRNA表达水平的改变，并检测毛壳素对组蛋白H3K9 me2和H3K9 me3蛋白表达水平的影响。结果显示，20 nmol·L^-1的毛壳素处理gADSCs 48 h时对细胞活性影响较小，组蛋白甲基化转移酶G9A的表达显著降低(P<0.05)，为最适处理浓度和时间。实时PCR结果显示，试验组H3K9 me2和H3K9 me3甲基化转移酶EHMT1、EHMT2、SUV39H1、SUV39H2表达显著降低(P<0.05)，H3K9 me2和H3K9 me3去甲基化酶KDM3A、KDM3B、KDM4B、KDM4D表达显著增高(P<0.05)，多潜能性相关基因SOX2、OCT4、NANOG表达量增高。免疫荧光和WB结果显示，处理组H3K9 me2蛋白水平无明显变化，而H3K9 me3蛋白水平显著降低(P<0.05)。20 nmol·L^-1的毛壳素处理gADSCs 48 h后可以显著降低组蛋白H3K9 me2和H3K9 me3的甲基化修饰作用，提高多潜能性相关基因的表达。     

Effects of the Histone Methyltransferase Inhibitor UNC0638 on Histone H3K9 Dimethylation of Cultured Ovine Somatic Cells and Development of Resulting Early Cloned Embryos

Aberrant hypermethylation of histone H3 lysine 9 (H3K9) may be involved in the developmental failure of cloned embryos. UNC0638 is a type of small molecule that can specifically inhibit the enzyme activity of histone methyltransferase EHMT2 and reduce the H3K9 dimethylation (H3K9me2) levels in cells. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of UNC0638 in regulating H3K9me2 and development of cloned embryos. Results showed that UNC0638 could efficiently reduce H3K9me2 levels of cultured sheep foetal fibroblast cells in a concentration‐dependent manner. Cloned embryos were subsequently produced from UNC0638‐treated donor cells with down‐regulated H3K9me2, but their in vitro development was not improved when compared with the control. Our study suggested that revision of the single histone H3K9me2 modification may be not sufficient for rescuing the development of cloned embryos. However, because of its low cellular toxicity, UNC0638 may still be a potential chemical that could be used in regulating epigenetic modification of cloned embryos.     

ADP-核糖基化调控精子形成的研究进展

ADP-核糖基化是由ADP-核糖基转移酶((ADP-ribosyl) transferases,ARTs)催化的一种蛋白质翻译后修饰,分为聚-ADP-核糖基化和单-ADP-核糖基化,在着丝点和纺锤体组装、DNA损伤修复及精子染色质重塑等多个精子发生生物学事件中发挥重要调控作用.部分ARTs基因缺失使精子形成异常,导致精...     

A new ENU-induced mutant mouse with defective spermatogenesis caused by a nonsense mutation of the syntaxin 2/epimorphin (Stx2/Epim) gene

Repro34 is an N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU)-induced mutation in mice showing male-specific infertility caused by defective spermatogenesis. In the present study, we investigated pathogenesis and molecular lesions in relation to spermatogenesis in the repro34/repro34 homozygous mouse. Histological examination of the testis showed that the seminiferous epithelium of the repro34/repro34 mouse contained spermatogonia and spermatocytes but no round and elongating spermatids. Instead of these haploid cells, multinucleated giant cells occupied the niche of the seminiferous tubules. Immunohistochemical staining for Hsc70t, an elongating spermatid specific protein, confirmed the absence of elongating spermatids. Furthermore, RT-PCR showed that there were significantly reduced expressions of the marker genes specifically expressed in the spermatid and that there was no difference in the expressions of the spermatocyte specific marker genes. These findings indicated interruption of the spermatogenesis during transition from the spermatocyte to spermatid in the repro34/repro34 mouse. The repro34 locus has been mapped on a 7.0-Mb region of mouse chromosome 5 containing the Syntaxin 2/Epimorphin (Stx2/Epim) gene, and targeted disruption of this gene has been reported to cause defective spermatogenesis. We therefore sequenced the entire coding region of the Stx2/Epim gene and found a nucleotide substitution that results in a nonsense mutation of this gene. The expression pattern of the Stx2/Epim gene during the first wave of spermatogenesis, increased expression at later stages of spermatogenesis, was in agreement with the affected phase of spermatogenesis in the adult repro34/repro34 testis. We therefore concluded that the male infertility of the repro34/repro34 mouse is caused by the interruption of spermatogenesis during transition from the spermatocyte to spermatid and that the nonsense mutation of the Stx2/Epim gene is responsible for the interruption of spermatogenesis.     

Epigenetic modulation on cat‐cow interspecies somatic cell nuclear transfer embryos by treatment with trichostatin A

This study aimed to determine the acetylation at lysine 9/18/23 of histone H3 (H3K9ac/H3K18ac/H3K23ac; H3K9/18/23 ac) and the di‐methylation at lysine 9 of histone H3 (H3K9me2) during early embryogenesis among trichostatin A (TSA)‐treated interspecies somatic cell nuclear transfer (iSCNT) cat‐cow (TSA‐iSCNT) embryos, TSA‐untreated iSCNT cat‐cow control (control) embryos and bovine in vitro fertilization (IVF) embryos, because TSA‐iSCNT embryos can develop to blastocysts. Compared to the control embryos, higher expressions of H3K9/18/23 ac were observed in TSA‐iSCNT embryos and IVF embryos at most following stages (2 h post‐fusion / post‐insemination (PF/PI) to eight‐cell stage). At 6 h PF/PI the expression of H3K9/23 ac in TSA‐iSCNT embryos and IVF embryos were lower than those in control embryos, and the expression of H3K18ac was no difference among the three groups. The expression of H3K9/23 ac increased in TSA‐iSCNT embryos and IVF embryos at pronuclear (PN) stages. The expression of H3K9me2 in TSA‐iSCNT embryos resembled that of IVF embryos at 2 h PF/PI to PN stages, and these expression levels were greater than those of control embryos. These results suggest that treatment of iSCNT embryos with TSA modifies the patterns of histone modification at certain lysine residues in a manner that is comparable with that seen in IVF during early embryogenesis.     

Functions of histone H2A variants

One way that cells alter their chromatin structure is by incorporating histone variants into their nucleosomes. Unlike canonical histones, which are deposited behind the replication fork during the S‐phase of cell division, the accumulation of histone variants is independent of DNA replication. However, among the histone variants, H2A variants play an important role in DNA replication, damage repair, recombination and gene expression. This paper provides a review of H2A histone variants and their functions, exchange in the chromatin and depositional modes by specific chaperones.     

Cell-free extract from porcine induced pluripotent stem cells can affect porcine somatic cell nuclear reprogramming

Pretreatment of somatic cells with undifferentiated cell extracts, such as embryonic stem cells and mammalian oocytes, is an attractive alternative method for reprogramming control. The properties of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are similar to those of embryonic stem cells; however, no studies have reported somatic cell nuclear reprogramming using iPSC extracts. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effects of porcine iPSC extracts treatment on porcine ear fibroblasts and early development of porcine cloned embryos produced from porcine ear skin fibroblasts pretreated with the porcine iPSC extracts. The Chariot^TM reagent system was used to deliver the iPSC extracts into cultured porcine ear skin fibroblasts. The iPSC extracts-treated cells (iPSC-treated cells) were cultured for 3 days and used for analyzing histone modification and somatic cell nuclear transfer. Compared to the results for nontreated cells, the trimethylation status of histone H3 lysine residue 9 (H3K9) in the iPSC-treated cells significantly decreased. The expression of Jmjd2b, the H3K9 trimethylation-specific demethylase gene, significantly increased in the iPSC-treated cells; conversely, the expression of the proapoptotic genes, Bax and p53, significantly decreased. When the iPSC-treated cells were transferred into enucleated porcine oocytes, no differences were observed in blastocyst development and total cell number in blastocysts compared with the results for control cells. However, H3K9 trimethylation of pronuclear-stage-cloned embryos significantly decreased in the iPSC-treated cells. Additionally, Bax and p53 gene expression in the blastocysts was significantly lower in iPSC-treated cells than in control cells. To our knowledge, this study is the first to show that an extracts of porcine iPSCs can affect histone modification and gene expression in porcine ear skin fibroblasts and cloned embryos.     

羊驼睾丸细胞凋亡及凋亡相关蛋白的定位

本研究旨在观察羊驼睾丸的出生后发育和精子发生过程中的细胞凋亡及凋亡相关蛋白Bcl2和Caspase3 的定位.取材新生、12月龄和24月龄羊驼的睾丸,用TUNEL法检测睾丸发育和精子发生过程的细胞凋亡,用免疫组织化学技术检测凋亡相关蛋白Bcl2和Caspase3在羊驼出生后发育和精子发生过程中的定位.结果显示在新生羊驼睾丸未检测到TUNEL阳性细胞,Caspase3和Bcl2表达于间质细胞,提示在新生期凋亡蛋白参与间质细胞凋亡的调节,为曲精小管的发育提供空间;12月龄羊驼睾丸TUNEL阳性细胞定位于曲精小管中央部分,Caspase3 和Bcl2定位于间质细胞和曲精小管中央生殖细胞,提示在青春期(12月龄)羊驼睾丸,细胞凋亡和凋亡相关蛋白参与曲精小管管腔形成的调节;24月龄羊驼睾丸TUNEL阳性细胞定位于精原细胞、精母细胞和精子细胞,Caspase3 和Bcl2定位于间质细胞和各个发育阶段的生精细胞,Caspase3阳性细胞在精原细胞最高,向精母细胞和精子细胞逐渐减少,Bcl2在精原细胞弱阳性表达,在血睾屏障以内的曲精小管近腔室部分呈弥散性强阳性表达,提示在性成熟(24月龄)羊驼睾丸精子发生过程中,细胞凋亡主要发生于精原细胞和早期精母细胞,Bcl2可能抑制精母细胞之后生殖细胞的凋亡.结果提示在羊驼睾丸出生后发育和精子发生过程中存在细胞凋亡现象;凋亡蛋白Caspase3和Bcl2参与羊驼睾丸发育和精子发生过程中细胞凋亡的调节.     

Effect of histone acetylation modification with sodium butyrate, a histone deacetylase inhibitor, on cell cycle, apoptosis, ploidy and gene expression in porcine fetal fibroblasts

The present study evaluated the effective dose of sodium butyrate (NaB), a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, for determination of the level of enhancement of histone acetylation in porcine fetal fibroblasts (PFFs) based on their morphology, growth, apoptosis and cell cycle status. Cells were analyzed for their histone acetylation levels at H3, H4 and H2A and expression of genes related to histone deacetylation (HDAC1, HDAC2 and HDAC3), pro-apoptosis (Bax and Bak) and anti-apoptosis (Bcl-2). PFFs at passage 3-4 were cultured with 0, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 mM NaB for 96 h. NaB inhibited cell proliferation at all tested concentrations in a dose-dependent manner. However, there was slow cell growth for PFFs treated with 2.0 and 3.0 mM NaB compared with those of untreated PFFs and those treated with other lower concentrations (0.5 and 1.0 mM). More than 85% of the cells that were untreated or treated with 0.5 or 1.0 mM NaB had intact membranes, whereas, approximately 30% of the cells treated with 2.0 or 3.0 mM NaB had increased cell sizes and a more flattened and elongated appearance. NaB induced apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner; the rates of apoptosis were 2.5 +/- 0.4% for 1.0 mM NaB, 7.6 +/- 1.1% for 2.0 mM NaB and 11.2 +/- 1.4% for 3.0 mM NaB. The chromosomal sets of PFFs treated with 0.5 and 1.0 mM NaB were normal, whereas a lower proportion of PFFs treated with 2.0 and 3.0 mM were classified as normal. NaB at 0.5 and 1.0 mM showed little effect on cell cycle. However, 2.0 and 3.0 mM resulted in an increased cell population at the G(0)/G(1) phase. Increased NaB concentrations led to elevated acetylation of H3, H4 and H2A. NaB altered the expression of histone deacetylation and apoptosis-related genes. In conclusion, 1.0 mM NaB induced histone hyperacetylation in the PFFs and produced less deleterious effects than other concentrations; these PFFs might serve as suitable donors for porcine somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT).     

猪正反交F1代背最长肌中H3.3基因表达的发育性变化

为了解猪组蛋白变异体H3.3基因在组织中表达的发育性变化规律,本研究通过实时荧光定量PCR的方法,检测H3.3基因在不同日龄和正反交组合下在猪肌肉组织中的表达水平。试验结果表明,猪H3.3基因在猪出生后各个时期的背最长肌中均有表达,且随日龄的增加表达量也随之增加;正反交间表达量也有所差异,1日龄反交(二花脸猪♂×大约克猪♀)组表达量大于正交(大约克猪♂×二花脸猪♀)组,20日龄以后,均为正交组表达量高于反交组,但同时期各组正反交表达量间均差异不显著。本试验首次证实了组蛋白变异体H3.3在猪肌肉组织中确有掺入,得到了H3.3在猪肌细胞中表达量的发育性规律,并且认为H3.3的替换作用可能受到母体效应的影响。本研究为更深入的研究组蛋白变体的替换对真核生物细胞生长和发育相关基因的调控与修饰分子机制的研究奠定基础。     

长链非编码RNA NEAT1对小鼠精子发生的影响

为研究长链非编码RNA NEAT1对小鼠精子发生的影响,构建针对NEAT1的干扰载体并包装慢病毒,通过将干扰慢病毒注射到成年小鼠睾丸曲细精管和定量PCR,H.＆E.染色等方法观测NEAT1对小鼠精子发生的影响。研究结果表明,NEAT1在睾丸组织和GC-1生殖细胞系中表达;成功构建CD513B-U6-NEAT1干扰载体,利用第三代慢病毒包装系统包装获得干扰慢病毒且干扰效果明显（NEAT1转录本水平下调69%）;慢病毒注射试验结果显示干扰病毒注射组睾丸指数轻微增加,有精子发生的曲细精管比例由97%减少为86%（P〈0.05）,表明小鼠精子发生受到影响,NEAT1具有维持雄性小鼠精子发生的作用。     

增精宝对环磷酰胺致小鼠生精障碍保护作用的研究

为评价增精宝对雄性动物生精作用的影响,采用环磷酰胺致小鼠生精障碍为动物模型,考察不同剂量增精宝对环磷酰胺致小鼠生精障碍的保护作用。结果显示,高剂量组对小鼠的附睾、睾丸、储精囊和前列腺均有较显著的促进作用;低剂量组精子总密度和精子活率均差异显著(P<0.05);高剂量组精子活率差异显著(P<0.05);对小鼠睾丸各倍体生精细胞比例的影响,高剂量组小鼠睾丸生精小管较为饱满,管腔内存在大量精子,生精上皮较厚,可见各级生精细胞排列整齐,界膜明显,睾丸间质细胞排列整齐。结论表明,增精宝两种剂量均能够显著促进环磷酰胺导致小鼠生精障碍的保护作用,高剂量组对雄性小鼠的作用尤为显著。     

Extended exposure to trichostatin A after activation alters the expression of genes important for early development in nuclear transfer murine embryos

The low viability of embryos reconstructed by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is believed to be associated with epigenetic modification errors, and reduction of those errors may improve the viability of SCNT embryos. The present study shows the effect of trichostatin A (TSA), a strong inhibitor of histone deacetylase, on the development of murine SCNT embryos. After enucleation and nuclear injection, reconstructed murine oocytes were activated with or without TSA for 6 hr (TSA-6 hr). After activation, TSA treatment was extended to 3 hr (TSA-9 hr), 5 hr (TSA-11 hr) and 18 hr (TSA-24 hr) during culture. As a result, the SCNT embryos in the TSA-11 hr group showed a remarkably higher blastocyst rate (21.1%) when compared with the nontreated embryos (3.4%), while the concentration of TSA did not significantly affect embryonic development. The expressions of histone deacetylase (HDAC1 and HDAC2) and DNA methylation (DNMT3a and DNMT3b) genes decreased in the TSA-11 hr and TSA-24 hr groups, while there was an increase in the expression of histone acetyltransferase (P300 and CBP), pluripotency (OCT4 and NANOG) and embryonic growth/trophectoderm formation (FGF4)-related genes in the same groups. The expression of CDX2, a critical gene for trophectoderm formation was upregulated only in the TSA-24 hr group. Our results show that TSA treatment during the peri- and postactivation period improves the development of reconstructed murine embryos, and this observation may be explained by enhanced epigenetic modification of somatic cells caused by TSA-induced hyperacetylation, demethylation and upregulation of pluripotency and embryonic growth after SCNT.