Involvement of histone H2B monoubiquitination in the regulation of mouse preimplantation development

Histone H2B monoubiquitination (H2Bub1) plays an important role in developmental regulation in various vertebrate species. However, the role of H2Bub1 in mammalian preimplantation development remains unclear. In the present study, we examined the role of H2Bub1 in the regulation of mouse preimplantation development. Based on immunocytochemical analysis using an anti-H2Bub1 antibody, no H2Bub1 signal was detected in the metaphase chromosomes of unfertilized oocytes or the pronuclei of early 1-cell stage embryos, but a weak signal was observed in late 1-cell stage embryos. The signal increased after cleavage into the 2-cell stage, and thereafter a strong signal was observed until the blastocyst stage. To assess the significance of H2Bub1 in the regulation of preimplantation development, RNF20 (an H2B-specific ubiquitin E3 ligase) was knocked down using small interfering RNA (siRNAs). In embryos treated with siRNA, the levels of Rnf20 mRNA and H2Bub1 decreased at the 4-cell and morula stages. Although these embryos developed normally until the morula stage, only one-third developed into the blastocyst stage. These results suggested that H2Bub1 is involved in the regulation of preimplantation development.     

Demands for carbohydrates as major energy substrates depend on the preimplantation developmental stage in pig embryos: Differential use of fructose by parthenogenetic diploids before and after the 4-cell stage in the pig

The embryo culture technique has been improving, but the detailed demands for energy substrates such as glucose, fructose, pyruvate and lactate of preimplantation embryos are still unclear. In the present study, the demands of pig preimplantation embryos at each different developmental stage were investigated by use of parthenogenetic diploids as a model of pig preimplantation embryos. Pig parthenogenetic diploids showed different use of glucose and fructose before and after the 4-cell stage. Although glucose supported the development of pig embryos throughout the preimplantation stages and even maintained the expansion and hatching of blastocysts, it suppressed development to the blastocyst stage when glucose coexisted with pyruvate and lactate from 4 h after activation, but not after 48 h (early 4-cell stage). Since ketohexokinase that metabolizes fructose was not expressed in 2-cell and 4-cell diploids, a medium that included only fructose as a major energy substrate did not support early cleavage of pig diploids beyond the 4-cell stage, and almost no diploids developed to the morula stage just as in a medium without carbohydrates. These results may explain the different suppressive effects on pig preimplantation development between glucose and fructose when pyruvate and lactate were present in a medium. In addition, 4-cell diploids that had been cultured in a medium with pyruvate and lactate developed to the expanded blastocyst stage without any carbohydrates as a major energy substrate. These results show that the demands for carbohydrates are different depending on the developmental stage in pig preimplantation embryos.     

Preimplantation-embryo-specific cell-cycle regulation is attributable to a low expression of retinoblastoma protein rather than its phosphorylation

Mammalian preimplantation embryos enter the S phase immediately after the end of the M phase; their cell cycle lacks a substantial G1 phase. Previously, we suggested that the absence of the G1 phase was attributable to a loss of retinoblastoma protein (RB) function, which is required for suppression of S phase entrance and that this loss of RB function in turn was attributable to the low RB expression level during preimplantation development in mouse embryos. The present study aimed to examine whether or not RB inhibition by CDK4/6-cyclin D-dependent phosphorylation is involved in the loss of RB function in preimplantation mouse embryos by the expression of p16(INK4a), a potent endogenous inhibitor of CDK4/6-cyclin D. First, the decrease in RB expression between the four-cell and morula stages was confirmed in in vivo-derived mouse embryos. We then examined the efficiency of the p16(INK4a) expression vector in inhibiting RB phosphorylation and cell cycle progression using NIH-3T3 cells and obtained gradual RB dephosphorylation and a significantly lower proliferation rate in p16(INK4a)-transfected cells than in control cells. This indicated the successful p16(INK4a) effects on cell-cycle progression by the vector used. On the other hand, the development rate of mouse embryos injected with the p16(INK4a) expression vector was the same as that of the control embryos, although p16(INK4a) expression was detected at mRNA and protein levels in the former group but not in the control group. These results suggest that RB phosphorylation is not involved in RB dysfunction or in the lack of a G1 phase in mouse embryos and that the decrease in RB expression is important for preimplantation-embryo-specific cell-cycle regulation. Moreover, the present study indicates the similarity between preimplantation embryos and cancer cells, which p16(INK4a) expression does not arrest at the G1 phase.     

黄牛卵母细胞和早期胚胎组蛋白乙酰化转移酶1表达模式研究

为探讨卵母细胞成熟及早期胚胎发育过程中组蛋白乙酰基转移酶(HAT1)的表达规律,研究应用实时定量PCR技术,检测了广西本地黄牛卵母细胞和附植前胚胎HAT1基因的表达情况。结果表明:HAT1基因在黄牛生发泡期(GV)卵母细胞、第2次减数分裂中期(MⅡ)卵母细胞、体外受精(IVF)胚胎2～4细胞、8～16细胞、桑葚胚和囊胚中的相对表达量分别为1.00、0.56、0.08、0.55、0.43和0.31,在孤雌激活(PA)胚胎的2～4细胞、8～16细胞、桑葚胚和囊胚中的相对表达量分别为0.55、0.55、0.48和0.46。HAT1在GV期相对表达量最高,在IVF胚胎中2～4细胞表达量最少(P<0.05)。由此可见,HAT1基因在黄牛卵母细胞成熟和早期胚胎阶段均有表达,GV期HAT1基因的表达最高,PA胚胎HAT1基因的表达较稳定。     

Expression and subcellular localization of GSE protein in germ cells and preimplantation embryos

We previously identified a novel gonad-specific expression gene (Gse) and investigated its expression during gametogenesis in the mouse testis and ovary. In this study, we generated a polyclonal antibody to GSE protein and determined the profiles of the protein's expression in germ cells and preimplantation embryos in detail using immunocytochemical and immunofluorescence staining. In a Western blot analysis, the anti-GSE antibody recognized long and short isoforms (approximately 27.6 kDa and 23.1 kDa) of the protein in the mouse testis and the long isoform in the ovary. In the mouse testis, GSE protein was expressed in spermatocytes I in the pachytene stage, round spermatids, and elongated spermatids. In the mouse ovary, the protein was located in the cytoplasm and nucleus of all oocytes regardless of the stage of the ovarian follicles. In preimplantation embryos from the pronuclear to blastocyst stage, however, GSE protein was mainly detected in the nuclei of cells. At the blastocyst stage, the protein was confirmed to have accumulated in the inner cell mass (ICM), whereas it had mostly disappeared from the trophectoderm (TE). These findings suggest that GSE protein may play a role in the establishment of nuclear totipotency and may be associated with early lineage specification.     

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.     

Development to Term of Fused and Partially Enucleated Mouse Two-Cell Embryos

Contents: After the blastomeres of mouse two-cell embryos were fused by electric pulses within the zona pellucida, one nucleus of the fusion products was removed following the enucleation method described by McGrath and Solter (1983a, 1983b). 38% (196/520) of the fused embryos were enucleated successfully when Whitten's medium was used as enucleation medium and 434 of 1007 (43%) of the embryos when M 2 was used. 30% (47/159) of the partially enucleated embryos cleaved during their in vitro cultivation but only 3% developed to the morula or blasto cyst stage. 20 young (17%) were born after the transfer of 120 fused and partially enucleated two-cell embryos to 8 pseudopregnant recipients. It was shown that fused and partially enucleated two-cell embryos are able to survive and are able to reach adulthood, although their developmental rate is significantly lower than that of control embryos .
Here we report experiments for the examination of the developmental capacity of two-cell mouse embryos partially enucleated after fusion .     

The Dynamin 2 inhibitor Dynasore affects the actin filament distribution during mouse early embryo development

Dynamin 2 is a large GTPase notably involved in clathrin-mediated endocytosis, cell migration and cytokinesis in mitosis. Our previous study identified that Dynamin 2 regulated polar body extrusion in mammalian oocytes, but its roles in early embryo development, remain elusive. Here, we report the critical roles of Dynamin 2 in mouse early embryo development. Dynamin 2 accumulated at the periphery of the blastomere during embryonic development. When Dynamin 2 activity was inhibited by Dynasore, embryos failed to cleave to the 2-cell or 4-cell stage. Moreover, the actin filament distribution and relative amount were aberrant in the treatment group. Similar results were observed when embryos were cultured with Dynasore at the 8-cell stage; the embryos failed to undergo compaction and develop to the morula stage, indicating a role of Dynamin 2 in embryo cytokinesis. Therefore, our data indicate that Dynamin 2 might participate in the early embryonic development through an actin-based cytokinesis.     

小鼠胚胎的玻璃化冷冻研究

用不同冷冻载体(玻璃管、塑料管和0.25 mL细管)及不同冷冻方法(程序化冷冻和玻璃化冷冻)对小鼠3.5 d~4 d桑椹胚和囊胚进行冷冻保存,并与不做任何冷冻保存处理直接培养进行对比。结果表明,使用玻璃管、塑料管和0.25 mL细管作为胚胎的承载材料进行玻璃化冷冻,效果差异不显著;采用程序化冷冻与OPS玻璃化冷冻法,对小鼠胚胎进行冷冻保存可以取得较好的结果。从而得出,用不同材质的冷冻载体进行玻璃化冷冻,可以获得与程序化冷冻相同的良好效果。     

Improved development of ICR mouse 2-cell embryos by the addition of amino acids to a serum-, phosphate-and glucose-free medium

This study was conducted to evaluate how exogenous amino acids could affect preimplantation development of ICR mouse embryos. Two-cell embryos collected from naturally mated mice were cultured in amino acid-, glucose- and phosphate-free preimplantation (P)-1 medium. In Experiments 1, 19 amino acids (aa; 1% and 0.5% of MEM essential and nonessential amino acid solutions, respectively) were added to P-1 medium supplemented with either fatty acid-free bovine serum albumin (BSA; 3 mg/mL) or human follicular fluid (hFF; 10%). Regardless of BSA or hFF addition, embryo development to the morula (84 to 86% vs. 97 to 100%) and the blastocyst (54% vs. 93 to 94%) stages was significantly (P<0.05) enhanced by the addition of aa compared with no addition. In Experiment 2, the cell number of blastomeres and inner cell mass (ICM) cells in blastocysts and the ratio of ICM cell to trophectodermal cell (TE) were evaluated after aa addition. In both BSA- and hFF-containing P-1 medium, a significant increase in total blastomere number were found after aa addition (47 to 52 vs. 62 to 63 cells) compared with no addition. However, the ICM/TE ratio was not significantly affected by aa supplementation in both media, while ICM cell number was greatly increased after aa addition in hFF-containing medium (12 vs. 17 cells). When blastocysts were further cultured up to 162 hr post-hCG injection, development to the hatched blastocyst stage was significantly promoted by aa addition (0% vs. 11 to 20%) in both BSA- and hFF-containing media. In conclusion, aa significantly promote the preimplantation development to the hatched blastocyst stage and such effect mainly exerted on supporting blastomere proliferation.     

5-甲基胞嘧啶到5-羟甲基胞嘧啶的转变过程参与小鼠雄原核的DNA主动去甲基化

利用5-甲基胞嘧啶（5-methylcytosine，5mC）和5-羟甲基胞嘧啶（5-hydroxymethylcytosine，5-hrnC）特异性抗体对小鼠原核时期胚胎进行免疫荧光染色。同时使用荧光定量PCR方法检测Tet（Ten eleven translocation）基因在小鼠早期胚胎中的表达。免疫荧光染色结果显示早期原核阶段（PN1到PN3），雄原核中5mC的含量逐渐减少，而5hmC的含量逐渐增加。但是雌原核中5mC和5hmC的含量基本不变。在原核后期阶段（PN4到PN5）5hmC主要存在于雄原核中。荧光定量结果显示在小鼠MⅡ卵母细胞和植入前胚胎中Tet 1和Tet 2基因表达量较低，但是Tet 3在卵母细胞和原核时期表达量较高，随着胚胎的发育其表达量逐渐降低。结果表明，在小鼠原核时期阶段5mC到5hmC的转变过程主要是由TET3蛋白催化的，并且此过程参与小鼠雄原核的DNA主动去甲基化。     

貉早期胚胎发育内环境的研究

为研究貉早期胚胎发育体内微环境变化,试验选用年龄相同、体重相似的成年健康母貉23只,在繁殖季节自然交配,并受配1～2次,以第1次交配为零点开始计时,分别于初配后29～99h(n=7)、100～126h(n=7)、169～268h(n=9)随机处死貉,用免疫组化、透射及扫描电镜的方法研究貉早期胚胎发育过程中输卵管和子宫的形态学和超微结构变化;用X射线能谱技术对貉输卵管液和子宫液中的钾、钙、铁、锌等9种元素进行测定。结果显示:①随着貉早期胚胎的发育,其后期输卵管长度、黏膜厚度、皱襞高度和上皮高度均显著减小(P<0.05),输卵管直径有所降低,但差异不显著(P>0.05);子宫黏膜厚度、皱襞高度及子宫腺密度均显著增加(P<0.05),子宫的直径和长度有所增加,但差异不显著(P>0.05)。②随着貉早期胚胎的发育,貉子宫黏膜上皮微绒毛、脂滴和溶酶体含量增多。③随着貉早期胚胎的发育,其后期输卵管液中硫、钙、铁、铜和锌元素含量均显著升高(P<0.05),磷含量显著降低(P<0.05),而钾、氯和钠含量呈波动性变化;子宫液中硫、氯、钾的相对含量逐渐降低(P>0.05),锌的相对含量显著降低(P<0.05),磷、钙、铁和铜的含量呈波动性变化。本试验初步揭示了貉早期胚胎发育内环境的变化,为貉胚胎体外培养体系的建立提供参考。     

Preimplantation development of embryos in labrador retrievers

Preimplantation development of canine embryos is not well understood. To understand the timing of preattachment embryogenesis relative to the luteinizing hormone (LH) surge, early embryonic development was examined in Labrador Retrievers after artificial insemination. The embryos migrated from the oviduct to the uterus beginning on day 11 after the LH surge. This transport must be completed within 24 h. By day 13 after the LH surge, all of the embryos had moved and were localized in the uterus. The embryos developed to the morula stage within 11-13 days and to the blastocyst stage within 14 days after the LH surge, respectively. These findings add to the current understanding concerning the physiology of preimplantation development and should help further develop assisted reproductive techniques in canine species, such as cryopreservation and subsequent embryo transfer.     

Telomerase Activity in Swamp Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) Oocytes and Embryos Derived from In Vitro Fertilization, Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer and Parthenogenetic Activation

The objective of this study was to examine the telomerase activity in swamp buffalo oocytes and pre-implantation stage embryos derived from in vitro fertilization (IVF), somatic cell nuclear transfer (NT) and parthenogenetic activation (PA). Immature and mature oocytes, and embryos at the 2-4 cell, 8-16 cell, morula and blastocyst stages produced by IVF, NT and PA were collected and the telomerase activity was assayed by using a Telomerase PCR ELISA kit. Telomerase activity was detected in all developmental stages evaluated from immature oocytes to blastocyst stage embryos. Telomerase activity was detected in higher amounts in immature as compared with mature oocytes (p < 0.05). Embryos derived from NT showed a profile of telomerase activity similar to that of IVF. In IVF and NT embryos, telomerase activity was low in the 2-4 cell and 8-16 cell stages, but the activity significantly increased (p < 0.05) at the morula stage, reaching its highest level at the blastocyst stage. In PA embryos, low levels of telomerase activity were detected from the 2-4 cell to the morula stage, and the highest level of telomerase activity was found at the blastocyst stage. Telomerase activity in NT blastocysts is higher than that derived from IVF and the activity is highest in PA blastocysts. These results suggest that the successful reprogramming of telomerase activity in buffalo NT embryos follow a pattern similar to that in embryos derived from IVF and PA.     

Open-pulled straw (OPS) vitrification of in vitro fertilised mouse embryos at various stages

The present study was designed to investigate the cryotolerance of in vitro fertilised (IVF) mouse embryos at various preimplantation developmental stages. IVF mouse embryos were vitrified by the open-pulled straw (OPS) method. After warming, embryos were morphologically evaluated and assessed by their development to blastocysts, hatched blastocysts or term. The results showed that a high proportion (93.3-100.0%) of vitrified embryos at all developmental stages were morphologically normal after recovery. The developmental rate of vitrified 1-cell embryos to blastocyst (40.0%) or hatched blastocyst (32.7%) or term (9.3%) was significantly lower than that from other stages (P < 0.05). Vitrified embryos from 2-cell to early blastocyst stage showed similar blastocyst (71.8-89.5%) and hatched blastocyst rates (61.1-69.6%) and could develop to term without a significant loss of survival compared with those of fresh embryos (P > 0.05). Vitrified 2-cell embryos showed the highest survival rate in vivo (50.6%, 88/174), compared with that from other stages (9.3-30.5%, P < 0.05). The data demonstrate that the OPS method is suitable for the cryopreservation of IVF mouse embryos from 2-cell stage to early blastocyst stage without a significant loss of survival. Embryos at the 2-cell stage had the best tolerance for cryopreservation in the present study.