牛体外受精胚胎的基因组甲基化模式

利用抗5-甲基胞嘧啶(5MeC)抗体免疫荧光法检测了体外成熟(IVM)、体外受精(IVF)和体外培养(IVC)的牛合子及早期胚胎的基因组甲基化模式. 实验结果表明: 有61.5%的合子发生了雄原核去甲基化, 而34.6%的合子没有发生去甲基化; 当胚胎发育到8-细胞时, 甲基化水平明显下降, 且一直到桑椹胚期仍维持低甲基化状态, 但同一枚胚胎的不同卵裂球之间甲基化水平不同; 在囊胚期, 内细胞团细胞的甲基化水平很低, 而滋养层细胞的甲基化水平却很高. 本研究结果至少部分地提示, IVM/IVF/IVC可能对牛合子及早期胚胎的甲基化模式有一定影响.     

小鼠体内外受精植入前胚胎全基因组甲基化模式比较

为考察体外受精、操作及培养环境对体外受精的小鼠植入前胚胎全基因组DNA甲基化模式的影响,本研究以体内受精的植入前胚胎作为对照,采用间接免疫荧光法检测小鼠体内外受精植入前胚胎基因组DNA甲基化模式.实验结果表明,体外受精各期植入前胚胎呈现出与之相应时期的体内受精植入前胚胎不同的DNA甲基化模式和水平,原核期甲基化水平较高,2-4-、8-细胞期明显降低,而桑葚胚和囊胚期又略有升高.各期体外受精植入前胚胎的基因组DNA甲基化水平都比同时期体内受精胚胎的甲基化水平低.本实验结果部分显示了体外受精、操作及培养环境可能对正常的DNA甲基化模式产生影响,造成体外受精植入前胚胎甲基化模式异常.     

小鼠电融合四倍体胚胎早期发育的研究

多倍体发育现象在低等动物,尤其是在无脊椎动物中比较普遍,在哺乳动物中多倍体往往发育到胚胎早期就死亡,因而在自然界中不能存活。探讨哺乳类四倍体不能存活的原因是当今生物学研究的热点问题之一。目前,电融合技术是大量获得四倍体胚胎的主要手段。本以8－12周龄昆明小白鼠为实验对象,取其2－细胞胚胎于Whitten氏液中进行电融合,再移入CZB液中培养。电刺激的条件分别为：1．0kv/cm,40μs,和0．8kv/cm,80μs。对融合胚发育的状态、细胞数目及染色体组成等进行观察的结果表明,融合胚培养24小时后发育到4－细胞期,并发生致密化（Tab.1)。融合胚的囊胚形成时间与体内发育的同期胚胎及体外培养的同期二倍体胚胎基本一致（Tab,2;Fig.1)。融合囊胚的细胞数平均为13．0±4．95,显（P＜0．01）少于体外发育囊胚（37．0±5．92）和体内发育囊胚（41．6±2．4）的细胞数（Tab.3)。融合胚各个分裂相的染色体数目分布情况见Fig.2,其四倍体（4n＝80）率为42．86％,非整倍体率达57．14％。而对照组的体内发育囊胚的非整倍体率仅为11．54％;（Tab.4),与Kaufman的结果（12．4％）很接近,说明本实验中的染色体制备技术和分析方法是可行的。融合囊胚的细胞数目减少和高发的非整倍体率可能是四倍体胚胎发育能力差的原因。     

小鼠胚胎干细胞与四倍体胚胎的嵌合

The oviducts of superovulated Kunming white females were flushed 44-46 hours after treatment with human chorionic gonadotropin to collect 1074 late two-cell-stage embryos.The embryos were placed twenty at a time between two platinum electrodes laid 1 mm apart in 0.3M mannitol in the electrode chamber.The blastomeres were fused by a short electric pulse(80V for 50μsec) applied by a pulse generator.Fusion of blastomeres was usually completed in 20-60minutes.After 25 hours of culture,most of the tetraploid embryos developed to the four-cell stage.Zonae pellucidae of 387 four-cell-stage tetraploid embryos were removed by treatment with acid Tyrode‘s buffer.The embryos were plated on an ES cell layer,After 40 hours of coculture,248 embryos aggregated with ES cells were collected and transferred into the uteri of twenty four 2.5-day pseudopregnant recipinets.Ten recipients were pregnant.but no live fetuses were born.Three pregnant recipients were routinely subject to a Caesarean section on day 18 of pregnancy and seven abnormal fetuses were obtained.The results demonstrate that ES cells derived from C57BL/6 mice are pluripotential to a certain extent.     

DNA羟甲基化在小鼠胚胎干细胞中的研究进展

简要总结DNA羟甲基化在小鼠胚胎干细胞(mouse embryonic stem cells,mESC)中的最新研究进展.DNA甲基化(DNAmethylation)影响染色质的结构与功能,在发育与疾病发生过程中具有重要作用.2009年Tahiliani等发现TET1可以催化甲基化胞嘧啶(5-methylcytosine,5mC)氧化为羟甲基化胞嘧啶(5-hydroxymethylcytosine,5hmC).DNA羟甲基化(DNAhydroxymethylation)被认为是调节DNA甲基化的一种重要方式,成为了表观遗传学的研究热点之一.     

RNA干扰Dnmt1和Dnmt3b对小鼠胚胎成纤维细胞凋亡和基因组DNA甲基化水平的影响

DNA甲基转移酶1(DNMT1)负责DNA甲基化维持,DNA甲基转移酶3b(DNMT3b)主要负责DNA从头甲基化,在体细胞中同时干扰Dnmt1、Dnmt3b表达会给细胞带来何种影响还未见报道。实验以小鼠胚胎成纤维细胞为实验对象,用RNA干扰方法对Dnmt1和Dnmt3b进行敲低,研究分别干扰和同时干扰这两个基因对小鼠胚胎成纤维细胞凋亡、基因组甲基化水平的影响。研究发现,si RNA转染后24 h,Dnmt3b干扰组和Dnmt1+Dnmt3b同时干扰组细胞的增殖细胞核抗原(PCNA)mRNA水平显著降低(P0.05);转染后48h,Dnmt3b单独干扰组、Dnmt1+Dnmt3b同时干扰组中细胞凋亡显著增加(P0.05);Dnmt3b单独干扰组细胞基因组甲基化水平下降32%(P0.01),Dnmt1+Dnmt3b同时干扰组细胞的基因组甲基化水平下降约44%(P0.01)。结果表明,DNMT3b在小鼠胚胎成纤维细胞正常增殖、基因组甲基化水平的维持上具有重要作用。     

DNA甲基化与植物的生长发育

文章就DNA甲基化与植物生长发育的关系、催化甲基化的酶、5－甲基胞嘧啶在植物基因组中的分布、甲基化的发生和遗传的研究进展作了介绍。     

DNA甲基化作用对细胞癌变的影响

５－甲基胞嘧啶的形成引起自发脱氨是真核生物中一种普遍存在的内源突变过程。ＤＮＡ甲基化酶具有突变诱导物作用并在癌变中表达增加。癌细胞基因组呈现ＤＮＡ甲基化不足而影响基因组的稳定性;组织特异性基因的启动子区域出现从头甲基化;癌基因多为不充分甲基化导到重新开放或异常表达;抑癌基因多为过度甲基化从而形成突变靶点。ＤＮＡ甲基化效应物可改变癌变相关基因的表达。     

Sex-chromosome constitution of postimplantation tetraploid mouse embryos

Tetraploid mouse embryos were produced at the two-cell stage by blastomere fusion induced by inactivated Sendai virus. The embryos were from chromosomally normal female mice that had been fertilised by homozygous Rb(1.3)1Bnr males carrying a pair of large metacentric marker chromosomes in their karyotype. These "reconstructed" one-cell tetraploid embryos were then transferred to the oviducts of pseudopregnant recipients, which were subsequently autopsied early on the 10th day of gestation. Two-cell stage embryos that did not undergo blastomere fusion after 4-5 h were transferred to a second group of recipients, which were also autopsied early on the 10th day of gestation. From a total of 153 tetraploid embryos transferred to females that subsequently became pregnant, 135 implanted. Sixty-eight implantation sites were found to contain resorptions, whereas 67 contained mostly headfold presomite-stage embryos. Four embryos possessed four to six pairs of somites. All 57 embryos that could be analysed cytogenetically were found to be tetraploid. G-banding analysis revealed that 30 of these embryos had an XXYY and 27 and XXXX sex-chromosome constitution. The presence of two marker chromosomes in all mitotic preparations from each of these tetraploid embryos confirmed that they had all been produced by duplication of their original XY or XX diploid chromosome constitution, respectively. The XXYY:XXXX sex ratio observed was not significantly different from unity. In the control series of transfers, all of the embryos recovered were at the forelimb bud stage and had a diploid chromosome constitution. The results reported here differ from human clinical findings, in which the XXYY:XXXX sex ratio of 120 human tetraploid spontaneous abortions recovered over the last 20 years is 45:75. Possible explanations for these differences are briefly discussed.     

Intergenerational genomic DNA methylation patterns in mouse hybrid strains

Background

DNA methylation is a contributing factor to both rare and common human diseases, and plays a major role in development and gene silencing. While the variation of DNA methylation among individuals has been partially characterized, the degree to which methylation patterns are preserved across generations is still poorly understood. To determine the extent of methylation differences between two generations of mice we examined DNA methylation patterns in the livers of eight parental and F1 mice from C57BL/6J and DBA/2J mouse strains using bisulfite sequencing.

Results

We find a large proportion of reproducible methylation differences between C57BL/6J and DBA/2J chromosomes in CpGs, which are highly heritable between parent and F1 mice. We also find sex differences in methylation levels in 396 genes, and 11% of these are differentially expressed between females and males. Using a recently developed approach to identify allelically methylated regions independently of genotypic differences, we identify 112 novel putative imprinted genes and microRNAs, and validate imprinting at the RNA level in 10 of these genes.

Conclusions

The majority of DNA methylation differences among individuals are associated with genetic differences, and a much smaller proportion of these epigenetic differences are due to sex, imprinting or stochastic intergenerational effects. Epigenetic differences can be a determining factor in heritable traits and should be considered in association studies for molecular and clinical traits, as we observed that methylation differences in the mouse model are highly heritable and can have functional consequences on molecular traits such as gene expression.     

Differential DNA methylation reprogramming of various repetitive sequences in mouse preimplantation embryos

Genome-wide changes of DNA methylation by active and passive demethylation processes are typical features during preimplantation development. Here we provide an insight that epigenetic reprogramming of DNA methylation is regulated in a region-specific manner, not a genome-wide fashion. To address this hypothesis, methylation states of three repetitive genomic regions were monitored at various developmental stages in the mouse embryos. Active demethylation was not observed in the IAP sequences whereas methylation reprogramming of the satellite sequences was regulated only by the active mechanism. Etn elements were actively demethylated after fertilization, passively demethylated by the 8-cell stage, and de novo methylated at the morular and blastocyst stages, showing dynamic epigenetic changes. Thus, our findings suggest that the specific genomic regions or sequences may spatially/temporally have their unique characteristics in the reprogramming of the DNA methylation during preimplantation development.     

Postimplantation development of tetraploid mouse embryos produced by electrofusion

Despite the fact that a variety of experimental techniques have been devised over the years to induce tetraploid mammalian embryonic development, success rates to date have been limited. Apart from the early study by Snow, who obtained development to term of a limited number of cytochalasin B-induced tetraploid mouse embryos, no other researchers have achieved development of tetraploid embryos beyond the early postimplantation period. We now report advanced postimplantation development of tetraploid mouse embryos following electrofusion of blastomeres at the 2-cell stage, and subsequent transfer of these 1-cell 'fused' embryos to appropriate recipients. Cytogenetic analysis of the extraembryonic membranes of all of the postimplantation embryos encountered in the present study has provided an unequivocal means of confirming their tetraploid chromosome constitution. A preliminary morphological and histological analysis of the tetraploid embryos obtained by this technique has revealed that characteristic craniofacial abnormalities particularly involving the forebrain and eyes were consistently observed, and these features were often associated with abnormalities of the vertebral axis and heart. The most advanced viable embryo in this series was recovered on the 15th day of gestation, and its morphological features suggest that it was developmentally equivalent to a normal embryo of about 13.5-14 days p.c.     

Alcohol exposure alters DNA methylation profiles in mouse embryos at early neurulation

Alcohol exposure during development can cause variable neurofacial deficit and growth retardation known as fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). The mechanism underlying FASD is not fully understood. However, alcohol, which is known to affect methyl donor metabolism, may induce aberrant epigenetic changes contributing to FASD. Using a tightly controlled whole-embryo culture, we investigated the effect of alcohol exposure (88mM) at early embryonic neurulation on genome-wide DNA methylation and gene expression in the C57BL/6 mouse. The DNA methylation landscape around promoter CpG islands at early mouse development was analyzed using MeDIP (methylated DNA immunoprecipitation) coupled with microarray (MeDIP-chip). At early neurulation, genes associated with high CpG promoters (HCP) had a lower ratio of methylation but a greater ratio of expression. Alcohol-induced alterations in DNA methylation were observed, particularly in genes on chromosomes 7, 10, and X; remarkably, a >10 fold increase in the number of genes with increased methylation on chromosomes 10 and X was observed in alcohol-exposed embryos with a neural tube defect phenotype compared to embryos without a neural tube defect. Significant changes in methylation were seen in imprinted genes, genes known to play roles in cell cycle, growth, apoptosis, cancer, and in a large number of genes associated with olfaction. Altered methylation was associated with significant (p     

Developmental potential of mouse tetraploid cells in diploid <--> tetraploid chimeric embryos

Mouse 2n (lacZ-) <--> 4n (lacZ+) aggregation chimeras were examined 5 or 10 days after uterine transfer to test the potential of 4n cells to contribute to embryonic tissues. Recovered embryos corresponded to embryonic day 7.5 approximately 8.0 and 12.5, respectively. Ten days after transfer, 4n cells were never detected, as reported earlier, in embryonic tissues of chimeras produced by the standard procedure in which one 2n embryo at the8-cell stage is aggregated with a4n embryo at the4-cell stage. However, beta-gal positive cells were present in embryonic tissues, though in a low number, in chimeras produced by a 2n and a 4n embryo at the 4-cell stage. Similar results were obtained when one 2n embryo atthe 8-cell stage was aggregated with two 4n embryos atthe 4-cell stage. beta-gal positive cells were found in the heart, liver, skin and intestinal epithelium. The majority of chimeras 5 days after uterine transfer retained beta-gal positive cells in embryonic tissues. The complete lack of 4n cell contribution to chimeras produced by the standard procedure is therefore attributed to the initial low proportion of 4n cells allocated to epiblast and their severe elimination from embryonic tissues.