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Global gene expression analysis of bovine blastocysts produced by multiple methods
Author(s) -
Zhou Wenli,
Xiang Tianhao,
Walker Shawn,
Farrar Vicki,
Hwang Earl,
Findeisen Brian,
Sadeghieh Sanaz,
Arenivas Fernando,
Abruzzese Ronald V.,
Polejaeva Irina
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
molecular reproduction and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.745
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1098-2795
pISSN - 1040-452X
DOI - 10.1002/mrd.20797
Subject(s) - somatic cell nuclear transfer , biology , reprogramming , embryo , somatic cell , bovine genome , genetics , blastocyst , andrology , gene expression , gene , microbiology and biotechnology , embryogenesis , genome , medicine
Abstract Reproductive efficiency using somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) technology remains suboptimal. Of the various efforts to improve the efficiency, chromatin transfer (CT) and clone‐clone aggregation (NTagg) have been reported to produce live cloned animals. To better understand the molecular mechanisms of somatic cell reprogramming during SCNT and assess the various SCNT methods on the molecular level, we performed gene expression analysis on bovine blastocysts produced via standard nuclear transfer (NT), CT, NTagg, in vitro fertilization (IVF), and artificial insemination (AI), as well as on somatic donor cells, using bovine genome arrays. The expression profiles of SCNT (NT, CT, NTagg) embryos were compared with IVF and AI embryos as well as donor cells. NT and CT embryos have indistinguishable gene expression patterns. In comparison to IVF or AI embryos, the number of differentially expressed genes in NTagg embryos is significantly higher than in NT and CT embryos. Genes that were differentially expressed between all the SCNT embryos and IVF or AI embryos are identified. Compared to AI embryos, more than half of the genes found deregulated between SCNT and AI embryos appear to be the result of in vitro culture alone. The results indicate that although SCNT methods have altered differentiated somatic nuclei gene expression to more closely resemble that of embryonic nuclei, combination of insufficient reprogramming and in vitro culture condition compromise the developmental potential of SCNT embryos. This is the first set of comprehensive data for analyzing the molecular impact of various nuclear transfer methods on bovine pre‐implantation embryos. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 75: 744–758, 2008. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.