Project description:Separation of cell lineages during early mammalian development is required to establish the pluripotent founder cell population that will give rise to the embryo proper and a functional trophoblast to support its development. We systemically assessed the role of the homeobox gene Cdx2 in vivo and in vitro development with an RNAi approach. Effective elimination of both maternal and zygotic Cdx2 resulted in typical phenotypes of Cdx2-mutant embryos, such as failure of hatching and implantation. However, the blastulation and expression of TE specific markers in these Cdx2-deficient embryos excluded the possibility of Cdx2 to act as a TE determinant, although compromised structure and functioning of TE was observed and the resulted embryos were not viable. Strikingly, the efficiency of stem cell derivation was significantly higher than control when embryos were put on MEF at the 8-cell stage and the derived stem cells were fully pluripotent as shown by chimera and tetraploid complementation experiments. Comparative genomic hybridization of wild type and Cdx2 mutant at 8-cell and blastocyst mouse embryos were performed. 8-cell biological duplicates and blastocyst stage biological triplicates embryos were used.The hybridization experiments were duplicated in a reciprocal labeling manner to reduce dye integration bias (dye-swaps).
Project description:Separation of cell lineages during early mammalian development is required to establish the pluripotent founder cell population that will give rise to the embryo proper and a functional trophoblast to support its development. We systemically assessed the role of the homeobox gene Cdx2 in vivo and in vitro development with an RNAi approach. Effective elimination of both maternal and zygotic Cdx2 resulted in typical phenotypes of Cdx2-mutant embryos, such as failure of hatching and implantation. However, the blastulation and expression of TE specific markers in these Cdx2-deficient embryos excluded the possibility of Cdx2 to act as a TE determinant, although compromised structure and functioning of TE was observed and the resulted embryos were not viable. Strikingly, the efficiency of stem cell derivation was significantly higher than control when embryos were put on MEF at the 8-cell stage and the derived stem cells were fully pluripotent as shown by chimera and tetraploid complementation experiments. Comparative genomic hybridization of wild type and Cdx2 mutant at 8-cell and blastocyst mouse embryos were performed.
Project description:Upon fertilization, the embryonic genome remains transcriptionally inactive until the mid-blastula transition. Zygotic genome activation (ZGA) of vertebrate embryos has been extensively studied using nucleic acid-based strategies, but proteomics data are still scarce, impeding the full mechanistic understanding of how ZGA is executed during the maternal-to-zygotic transition (MZT). Here, we performed quantitative proteomics to decipher the proteome landscape of zebrafish embryos during the MZT, quantifying nearly 5,000 proteins across four embryonic stages. The stage-specific clustering based on protein expression pattern revealed that helicases (i.e., eif4a2 and ruvbl1) facilitate pluripotency factors (i.e., nanog, pou5f3, ctcf, and hmga1) triggering ZGA in zebrafish, accompanied by the maternal product decay with P-bodies and ubiquitin dependent proteolytic pathway. Dozens of transcription factors show wave-like expression patterns during MZT, implying their diverse functions in triggering the ZGA and modulating differentiation for organ development. The combination of morpholino knockdown and quantitative proteomics demonstrated that maternal Nanog is required for proper embryogenesis by regulating 1) interactions with other pluripotency factors, 2) F-actin band formation, 3) cell cycle checkpoints and 4) maternal product degradation. This study represents the most systematic proteomics survey of developmentally regulated proteins and their expression profiles accompanying MZT in zebrafish, which is a valuable proteome resource for understanding ZGA.
Project description:Microarray analysis of gene expression in 2-cell embryos obtained from developmentally competent MII oocytes or developmentally incompetent MII (NSN) oocytes. In this study we have compared the expression profile of 2-cell embryos obtained after following in vitro fertilisation of developmentally competent (control) or incompetent (NSN) MII oocytes with the aim of identifying the gene expression networks that operate at this specific stage of development.
Project description:Microarray analysis of gene expression in 2-cell embryos obtained from developmentally competent MII oocytes or developmentally incompetent MII (NSN) oocytes.
Project description:How maternal factors in oocytes initiate zygotic genome activation (ZGA) remains elusive. Recent studies indicate that DPPA2 and DPPA4 are required for establishing a 2-cell embryo-like (2C-like) state in mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) in a DUX-dependent manner. These results suggest that DPPA2 and DPPA4 are essential maternal factors that regulate Dux and ZGA in embryos. By analyzing maternal knockout and maternal-zygotic knockout embryos, we unexpectedly found that Dux activation, ZGA, and preimplantation development are normal in embryos without DPPA2 or DPPA4. Thus, unlike in ESCs/2C-like cells, DPPA2 and DPPA4 are dispensable for ZGA and preimplantation development.
Project description:Sirtuin-1 (Sirt1), a NAD+-dependent histone deacetylase, exhibits several properties of a versatile driver of maternal-zygotic transition, due to its epigenetic and non-epigenetic substrates. The study was aimed at the dynamics of Sirt1 in early embryos and the contribution to maternal-zygotic transition. A conditional Sirt1-deficient knock-out mouse model was used. Females were hormonally stimulated and used as oocyte donors. oocytes were parthenogenetically activated and Sirt1-/- two-cell embryos were used for transcriptomic analysis.
Project description:Maternal-to-zygotic transition (MZT) is a conserved and fundamental process during which the maternal environment of oocyte transits to the zygotic genome driven expression program, and terminally differentiated oocyte and sperm are reprogrammed to totipotency. It is initiated by maternal mRNAs and proteins during the period of zygotic genome quiescence after fertilization, followed by a gradual switch to zygotic genome activation and accompanied by clearance of maternal RNAs and proteins. A key question for embryonic development is how MZT process is regulated. Here we used a low-input proteomic analysis to measure the proteomic dynamics during early development of mouse maternal-to-zygotic transition.
Project description:For a brief but critical period post-fertilization, the mammalian embryo is entirely dependent on maternal products inherited from the oocyte. Previous research showed that oocyte-specific loss of Med12, an X-linked gene and Mediator complex subunit, leads to female sterility despite normal folliculogenesis and ovulation. Here, we show that loss of maternal Med12 has minimal effect on the oocyte transcriptome and does not manifest in embryonic lethality until post-implantation. Implants derived from Med12-null oocytes demonstrate abnormal placentation at E9.5, with an overabundance of trophoblast giant cells (TGC). This phenotype associates with downregulation of trophoblast pluripotency markers (e.g. Cdx2) and activation of drivers of TGC identity (e.g. Stra13) in the E7.5 extraembryonic ectoderm, revealing a previously undescribed role for Med12 in trophoblast pluripotency maintenance. Notably, we find consistently low Med12 expression in embryos derived from Med12-null oocytes, potentially due to programmed paternal X chromosome inactivation (XCI). To isolate the consequences of maternal Med12 depletion, we introduced an autosomal Med12 transgene and show that embryonic expression of the transgene rescues development of Med12-null oocytes. We conclude that oocyte-specific deletion of Med12 produces a maternal-zygotic double knock-out in extraembryonic tissues due to paternal XCI, leading to loss of pluripotency in the trophoblast, placental malformation, and embryonic death.
Project description:Early embryogenesis is characterized by the maternal to zygotic transition (MTZ), in which maternally deposited messenger RNAs are translated and subsequently degraded while zygotic transcription begins. Posttranscriptional gene regulation by RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) is a dominant force controlling pre-zygotic gene expression. Here we describe the first in vivo mRNA-bound proteome in early Drosophila melanogaster embryos. mRNA interactome capture using conventional (254nm) and photoactivatable ribonucleoside-enhanced UV-crosslinking (365nm) was applied to detect RBPs bound to maternal and early zygotic polydenylated transcripts within the first two hours of embryogenesis. We identified a high confidence set of 476 putative RBPs and confirmed RNA-binding activity for most of the tested candidates. The majority of the identified proteins in the early fly mRNA interactome were known RBPs, harboring canonical RBPs features. Nearly hundred of the identified proteins were previously not known to bind RNA. Interestingly, mRNAs encoding RBPs and TFs exhibit time specific expression modules, in which RBPs dominate the first hours of embryonic development. Using fly-FISH data, we could show enriched RBP localization in the posterior embryo during these first hours of fly embryogenesis, suggesting general importance germ cell maturation.