Project description:We aimed to identify a reprogramming factor in mammalian oocytes. DJ-1 is one candidate gene of the factor. Inhibition of DJ-1 function in nuclear transfer embryos affected developmental abilities. The downstream effect of this DJ-1 inhibition was examined using microarrays. Nuclear transfer (NT) embryos (23-26 embryos per each sample) were collected at 28 h after nuclear transfer when many of the embryos had just reached the 2-cell stage. Total RNA was extracted and hybridized on the Affymetrix GeneChip Porcine Genome Array. Global transcripts were compared among NT embryos injected with anti-DJ1 antibody (αDJ1-NT_1), NT embryos injected with IgG (IgG-NT_1), non-injected NT embryos (NT_1) and donor cells (DonorCell_1). Biologically different samples of αDJ1-NT (αDJ1-NT_2) and IgG-NT (IgG-NT_2) were prepared and the microarray analysis was repeated. In both trials, NT embryos injected with IgG (IgG-NT_1 or IgG-NT_2) were used as controls.
Project description:We aimed to identify a reprogramming factor in mammalian oocytes. DJ-1 is one candidate gene of the factor. Inhibition of DJ-1 function in nuclear transfer embryos affected developmental abilities. The downstream effect of this DJ-1 inhibition was examined using microarrays.
Project description:Environmental estrogens may affect epigenetic programming as early as the period of preimplantation development. Therefore, we analyzed the effects of continuous gestational estradiol-17β (E2) exposure on male and female embryos. A low dose, close to the no-observed effect level (NOEL - 10 µg E2/kg body weight(bw)/d), a high dose (1000 µg E2/kg bw/d) and carrier only, as control group, was fed to sows from insemination until sampling at day 10 of pregnancy, respectively. 36 samples (n = 5-7 per treatment group and sex) were analyzed by high throughput sequencing.In the high dose group, RNA-sequencing of single embryos revealed 982 differentially expressed genes (DEG) in the female but none in the male blastocysts. Moreover, 62 and 3 DEG were found in female and male embryos of the NOEL dose group, respectively. Thus, maternal E2 treatment during early pregnancy affected gene expression of the embryos at day 10, potentially constituting the basis for long-term adverse effects.
