scholarly journals Role of glucose in cloned mouse embryo development

2008 ◽  
Vol 295 (4) ◽  
pp. E798-E809 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhiming Han ◽  
Rita Vassena ◽  
Maggie M. Y. Chi ◽  
Santhi Potireddy ◽  
Miriam Sutovsky ◽  
...  

Cloned mouse embryos display a marked preference for glucose-containing culture medium, with enhanced development to the blastocyst stage in glucose-containing medium attributable mainly to an early beneficial effect during the first cell cycle. This early beneficial effect of glucose is not displayed by parthenogenetic, fertilized, or tetraploid nuclear transfer control embryos, indicating that it is specific to diploid clones. Precocious localization of the glucose transporter SLC2A1 to the cell surface, as well as increased expression of glucose transporters and increased uptake of glucose at the one- and two-cell stages, is also seen in cloned embryos. To examine the role of glucose in early cloned embryo development, we examined glucose metabolism and associated metabolites, as well as mitochondrial ultrastructure, distribution, and number. Clones prepared with cumulus cell nuclei displayed significantly enhanced glucose metabolism at the two-cell stage relative to parthenogenetic controls. Despite the increase in metabolism, ATP content was reduced in clones relative to parthenotes and fertilized controls. Clones at both stages displayed elevated concentrations of glycogen compared with parthenogenetic controls. There was no difference in the number of mitochondria, but clone mitochondria displayed ultrastructural alterations. Interestingly, glucose availability positively affected mitochondrial structure and localization. We conclude that cloned embryos may be severely compromised in terms of ATP-dependent processes during the first two cell cycles and that glucose may exert its early beneficial effects via positive effects on the mitochondria.

Development ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 101 (4) ◽  
pp. 915-923 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.K. Howlett ◽  
S.C. Barton ◽  
M.A. Surani

We have investigated the development of reconstituted embryos in which enucleated 1- or 2-cell embryos received various advanced nuclei. Enucleated 1-cells developed to the blastocyst stage only when an early 2-cell donor nucleus was transferred but very rarely if the donor nucleus was derived from a late 2-cell, early 4-cell or mid 8-cell embryo. Although an 8-cell nucleus could only support development of an enucleated zygote to the 2-cell stage, it did express the hsp 68/70 X 10(3) Mr proteins that are characteristic of the first embryonic gene activity. These polypeptides were absent in enucleated zygotes that did not receive a donor nucleus. Moreover, an 8-cell nucleus transferred to an enucleated late 2-cell blastomere could also support preimplantation development provided that the nuclear:cytoplasmic ratio was maintained as in intact 2-cell blastomeres. 8-cell nuclei transferred to zygotes that retained at least one pronucleus were able to support development to the blastocyst stage provided that the pronucleus was both fully transcriptionally active and present beyond the late 1-cell stage. This study suggests an active and continued helper role of the resident pronucleus for the participation by an 8-cell nucleus in reconstituted eggs.


Reproduction ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 154 (6) ◽  
pp. 859-866 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoshiaki Tanabe ◽  
Hiroki Kuwayama ◽  
Sayaka Wakayama ◽  
Hiroaki Nagatomo ◽  
Masatoshi Ooga ◽  
...  

Recently, it has become possible to generate cloned mice using a somatic cell nucleus derived from not only F1 strains but also inbred strains. However, to date, all cloned mice have been generated using F1 mouse oocytes as the recipient cytoplasm. Here, we attempted to generate cloned mice from oocytes derived from the ICR-outbred mouse strain. Cumulus cell nuclei derived from BDF1 and ICR mouse strains were injected into enucleated oocytes of both strains to create four groups. Subsequently, the quality and developmental potential of the cloned embryos were examined. ICR oocytes were more susceptible to damage associated with nuclear injection than BDF1 oocytes, but their activation rate and several epigenetic markers of reconstructed cloned oocytes/embryos were similar to those of BDF1 oocytes. When cloned embryos were cultured for up to 4 days, those derived from ICR oocytes demonstrated a significantly decreased rate of development to the blastocyst stage, irrespective of the nuclear donor mouse strain. However, when cloned embryos derived from ICR oocytes were transferred to female recipients at the two-cell stage, healthy cloned offspring were obtained at a success rate similar to that using BDF1 oocytes. The ICR mouse strain is very popular for biological research and less expensive to establish than most other strains. Thus, the results of this study should promote the study of nuclear reprogramming not only by reducing the cost of experiments but also by allowing us to study the effect of oocyte cytoplasm by comparing it between strains.


2013 ◽  
Vol 113 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Masataka YOKOYAMA ◽  
Yoshio KOBAYASHI ◽  
Tohru MINAMINO

Cellular senescence is a state of irreversible growth arrest induced by various stresses such as oncogenic stimuli. This response is controlled by negative regulators of the cell cycle like the p53 tumor suppressor protein. Accumulating evidence has suggested a role of p53 activation in various age-associated conditions including atherosclerosis, heart failure and diabetes. Here we show that endothelial p53 activation plays a pathological role in the regulation of endothelial function and glucose metabolism under diabetic conditions. Endothelial expression of p53 was markedly up-regulated in a streptozotocin-induced diabetes model. Endothelial function such as acetylcholine-dependent vasodilatation was markedly impaired in this model. Although hyperglycemia was not altered, impairment of endothelial function was significantly improved in mice with endothelial cell-specific p53 deficiency. In same way, p53 was markedly activated in ischemic vessels, and endothelial p53 deficiency enhanced ischemia-induced angiogenesis. Mechanistically, endothelial p53 up-regulated the expression of PTEN that negatively regulated the Akt-eNOS pathway, and therefore disruption of p53 improved endothelial dysfunction. We also found that endothelial p53 was markedly activated, and the Akt-eNOS pathway was attenuated in a diet-induced obesity model. Disruption of endothelial p53 activation improved dietary inactivation of eNOS that up-regulated the expression of PGC-1α in skeletal muscle, thereby increasing mitochondrial biogenesis and oxygen consumption. Inhibition of endothelial p53 also improved dietary impairment of glucose transport into skeletal muscle by up-regulating endothelial expression of glucose transporter 1. Consequently, mice with endothelial cell-specific p53 deficiency fed a high-calorie diet showed improvement of insulin sensitivity and less fat accumulation compared with control littermates. These results indicate that endothelial p53 negatively regulates endothelium-dependent vasodilatation, ischemia-induced angiogenesis, and mitochondrial biogenesis by inhibiting the Akt-eNOS pathway and suggest that inhibition of endothelial p53 could be a novel therapeutic target in diabetic patients.


2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (Supplement_6) ◽  
pp. vi43-vi44
Author(s):  
Omkar Ijare ◽  
David Conway ◽  
Alan Cash ◽  
David Baskin ◽  
Kumar Pichumani

Abstract Anhydrous enol-oxaloacetate (AEO) has demonstrated the ability to enhance neuronal cell bioenergetics and activate brain mitochondrial biogenesis. Since oxaloacetate has demonstrated positive effects on brain bioenergetics in neurodegenerative diseases we have begun to investigate whether AEO may also have a positive effect on the altered cellular metabolism found in cancer cells, particularly Glioblastoma multiforme. The “Warburg effect” describes an abnormal metabolic state in cancer, distinct from normal tissue, in which energy is generated through enhanced conversion of pyruvate to lactate even in the presence of oxygen during glycolysis. Oxaloacetate (OAA) is a key anaplerotic substrate that is required to maintain TCA cycle flux. The role of oxaloacetate supplementation on the energy metabolism is not known in cancer cells. Goal of this study is to investigate the changes in metabolic fluxes in glucose metabolism with and without the presence of OAA in patient-derived GBM cells. We use GC-MS based 13C isotopomer analysis for this study. GBM cells are grown in 15mM glucose containing DMEM medium supplemented with 2mM oxaloacetate for 10 days. 6 hours prior to harvesting, [U-13C]glucose is introduced to the medium. 13C isotopomer analysis of GC-MS data showed that OAA supplementation for 10 days drastically decreased Warburg glycolysis by reducing 13C labeling (M+3) by 19.7% and 48.8% in pyruvate and lactate pools respectively in comparison with cells not treated with OAA. M+3 13C labeled pyruvate entered TCA cycle via acetyl-CoA, where we also observed reduced levels of M+2 13C labeled citrate (20.5%) and glutamate (23.9%) isotopomers. Pyruvate can also enter TCA cycle via pyruvate carboxylation pathway and this activity was also found to be slightly decreased in the OAA treated cells. All the differences were statistically significant. These results indicate that OAA can be used to alter bioenergetics of GBM cells, specifically glucose oxidation.


2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (12) ◽  
pp. 1862 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. A. Martino ◽  
G. Marzano ◽  
A. Mastrorocco ◽  
G. M. Lacalandra ◽  
L. Vincenti ◽  
...  

Time-lapse imaging was used to establish the morphokinetics of equine embryo development to the blastocyst stage after invitro oocyte maturation (IVM), intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and embryo culture, in oocytes held overnight at room temperature (22–27°C; standard conditions) before IVM. Embryos that developed to the blastocyst stage underwent precleavage cytoplasmic extrusion and cleavage to the 2-, 3- and 4-cell stages significantly earlier than did embryos that arrested in development. We then determined the rate of blastocyst formation after ICSI in oocytes held for 2 days at either 15°C or room temperature before IVM (15-2d and RT-2d treatment groups respectively). The blastocyst development rate was significantly higher in the 15-2d than in the RT-2d group (13% vs 0% respectively). The failure of blastocyst development in the RT-2d group precluded comparison of morphokinetics of blastocyst development between treatments. In any condition examined, development to the blastocyst stage was characterised by earlier cytoplasmic extrusion before cleavage, earlier cleavage to 2- and 4-cell stages and reduced duration at the 2-cell stage compared with non-competent embryos. In conclusion, this study presents morphokinetic parameters predictive of embryo development invitro to the blastocyst stage after ICSI in the horse. We conclude that time-lapse imaging allows increased precision for evaluating effects of different treatments on equine embryo development.


2013 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 255
Author(s):  
C. Sauvegarde ◽  
D. Paul ◽  
R. Rezsohazy ◽  
I. Donnay

Hox genes encode for homeodomain transcription factors well known to be involved in developmental control after gastrulation. However, the expression of some of these genes has been detected during oocyte maturation and early embryo development. An interesting expression profile has been obtained for HOXB9 in the bovine (Paul et al. 2011 Mol. Reprod. Dev. 78, 436): its relative expression increases between the immature oocyte and the zygote, further increases at the 5- to 8-cell stage to peak at the morula stage before decreasing at the blastocyst stage. The main objective of this work is to establish the HOXB9 protein profile from the immature oocyte to the blastocyst in the bovine. Bovine embryos were produced in vitro from immature oocytes obtained from slaughterhouse ovaries. Embryos were collected at the following stages: immature oocyte, mature oocyte, zygote (18 h post-insemination, hpi), 2-cell (26 hpi), 5 to 8 cell (48 hpi), 9 to 16 cell (96 hpi), morula (120 hpi), and blastocyst (180 hpi). The presence and distribution of HOXB9 proteins were detected by whole-mount immunofluorescence followed by confocal microscopy using an anti-human HOXB9 polyclonal antibody directed against a sequence showing 100% homology with the bovine protein. Its specificity to the bovine protein was controlled by Western blot on total protein extract from the bovine uterus and revealed, among a few bands of weak intensities, 2 bands of high intensity corresponding to the expected size. Oocytes or embryos were fixed and incubated overnight with rabbit anti-HOXB9 (Sigma, St. Louis, MO, USA) and mouse anti-E-cadherin (BD Biosciences, Franklin Lakes, NJ, USA) primary antibodies and then for 1 h with goat anti-rabbit Alexafluor 555 conjugated (Cell Signaling Technology, Beverly, MA, USA) and goat anti-mouse FITC-conjugated (Santa Cruz Biotechnology Inc., Santa Cruz, CA, USA) secondary antibodies. Embryos were then mounted in Vectashield containing DAPI. HOXB9 is detected from the immature oocyte to the blastocyst stage. At the immature oocyte stage, it is mainly localised in the germinal vesicle with a weak signal in the cytoplasm. At the mature oocyte stage, HOXB9 labelling is present in the cytoplasm. At the zygote stage, a stronger immunoreactivity is observed in the pronuclei than in the cytoplasm. From the 2-cell stage to the morula stage, the presence of HOXB9 is also more important in the nuclei than in the cytoplasm. HOXB9 is also observed at the blastocyst stage where it is localised in the nuclei of the trophectoderm cells, whereas an inconstant or weaker labelling is observed in the inner cell mass cells. In conclusion, we have shown for the first time the presence of the HOXB9 protein throughout early bovine embryo development. The results obtained suggest the presence of the maternal HOXB9 protein because it is already detected before the maternal to embryonic transition that occurs during the fourth cell cycle in the bovine. Finally, the pattern obtained at the blastocyst stage suggests a differential role of HOXB9 in the inner cell mass and trophectoderm cells. C. Sauvegarde holds a FRIA PhD grant from the Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique (Belgium).


2012 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 118
Author(s):  
A. Gambini ◽  
J. Jarazo ◽  
A. De Stefano ◽  
F. Karlanian ◽  
D. Salamone

The low number of horse slaughterhouses is one of the reasons for the limited availability of horse oocytes for research in cloning. The aim of our study was to assess the capability of equine, bovine, porcine, or feline ooplast to produce cloned embryos when equine cells are used as donor nuclei and to evaluate if embryo aggregation improves their development. Oocytes from mentioned species were collected from ovaries derived from slaughterhouses, except for cat ovaries that were obtained from ovariectomized queens. Oocytes were matured in TCM199 supplemented following standard protocols for each species. After maturation, cumulus and zona pellucida were removed. Enucleation was performed by aspiration of the metaphase plate under ultraviolet light. Donor cell and ooplast were attached by phytohemagglutinin treatment and then electrofused. Activation protocols were ionomycin for 4 min, except for porcine, which were electrically activated, followed by culture in 1.9 mM 6-DMAP for bovine, feline and porcine, except for equine: 1 mM 6-DMAP with 5 mg mL–1 of cycloheximide. Reconstructed embryos (RE) were cultured in SOF in the well of well system in 2 different groups: only one RE per well (1X) and three RE per well (3X, aggregated embryos, AE). Blastocysts derived from homospecific clones were transferred to synchronized mares. Cleavage and maximum development stage achieved of all experimental groups were assessed. In vitro development was compared using the chi-square test. In group 1X, a total of 64, 49, 38 and 145 RE were performed for porcine, bovine, feline and equine, respectively and in group 3X, 88, 48, 48 and 195 RE. Cleavage of cloned embryos ranged from 67 to 87%. Aggregated of homospecific equine clones showed the highest blastocyst rates (1X: 5.5%, 3X: 34%) and after embryo transfer (4 recipients for each group), an ongoing pregnancy (day 300, at the time of submission) was only achieved with aggregated embryo confirming the positive effect of embryo aggregation in these clones. The stages with higher developmental arrest of heterospecific nonaggregated embryos were 2 to 4 cells for porcine ooplast (23/64, 36%) and 4 to 8 cells for bovine and feline ooplast (37/49, 75% and 18/38, 47%, respectively). Blastocyst stage was only reached using feline ooplast (group I: 2/38, 5.26% and group II: 2/16, 12.5%). Heterospecific aggregated clones were able to achieve 16-cell stage, showing statistic differences compared with group 1X. As we reported previously, embryo aggregation shows benefits for homospecific equine clones, although more studies are needed to clarify if aggregation of heterospecific clones has the same effect. All heterospecific ooplasm was able to support embryo development. The stage of major developmental arrests was similar to embryonic genomic activation stage. Our results suggest that cat oocyte seems to be the best receptor to support equine cloned embryo development.


2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 148
Author(s):  
K. Farrell ◽  
K. Uh ◽  
K. Lee

Establishing proper levels of pluripotency is essential for normal development. The genome of gametes is remodelled upon fertilisation and pluripotency-related genes are expressed in blastocysts. Multiple pluripotency-related genes are involved in the well-orchestrated process; however, detailed mechanistic actions remain elusive. The PRDM family genes are reported to be closely related to the pluripotency. A previous report noted that PRDM14 plays an important role in the maintenance of pluripotency in human embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and potentially murine ESCs; loss of PRDM14 was found to cause abnormalities in genome-wide epigenetic status. Similarly, PRDM15 was found to be a key regulator of pluripotency in mouse ESCs. Structural similarities among the PRDM family suggest that other PRDM family genes may help to establish and maintain pluripotency in embryos. Unfortunately, little is known about the expression profile of PRDM family in porcine embryos. To expand our understanding of the role of PRDM family in porcine embryos, expression patterns of PRDM gene family were investigated using reverse transcription quantitative (RTq)-PCR. Candidate PRDM family genes were selected based on previous RNA-Seq data in porcine oocytes/embryos. To conduct this study, germinal vesicle (GV), MII, zygote, 4-cell, and blastocyst samples were collected. Complementary DNA synthesised from the samples was used for RT-qPCR to analyse the expression pattern of selected PRDM family genes: PRDM2, PRDM4, PRDM6, PRDM14, and PRDM15. The expression of target genes was normalized to the YWHAG level, an internal control. Then, GV stage was used as a control for ΔΔCT analysis. Two technical replications and three biological replications were performed. Analysis of variance was used for statistical analysis and P-values<0.05 were considered significant. There was a significant decrease in PRDM2 expression in 4-cell and blastocyst, PRDM4 expression in 4-cell, and PRDM6 in all stages (MII, zygote, 4-cell, and blastocyst), compared with the GV stage. Because zygotic genome activation occurs at the 4-cell stage in the pig, the significant decrease in gene expression (PRDM2, PRDM4, and PRDM6) indicates they may be maternally originated and involved in the reprogramming process following fertilisation. On the other hand, there was a significant increase in PRDM15 expression in blastocysts and the PRDM14 transcript was only detected in blastocysts in all three biological replicates, suggesting that the genes are most likely involved in pluripotency maintenance, as was found in previous human studies. These results indicate that PRDM family genes are differentially expressed during early embryo development in pigs and may play a role in maintenance of pluripotency. For further study, we intend to evaluate the role of PRDM family genes during early embryo development in pigs.


2004 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 141
Author(s):  
S. Eckardt ◽  
N.A. Leu ◽  
K.J. McLaughlin

In both murine and porcine preimplantation stage clones, mosaicism in gene expression has been observed, indicating variation in transcription of some genes between cells of the individual clone (Boiani M et al., 2002 Genes Dev. 16, 1209–1219; Park KW et al., 2002 Biol. Reprod. 66, 1001–1005). This observation raises the question as to whether all blastomeres within one early-stage clone are equivalent, or whether there are differences in developmental potential. To address this, we aggregated preimplantation-stage clone embryos with fertilized embryos and assessed contribution of Oct4-GFP expressing cells of clone origin in blastocysts and in vitro outgrowths. In normal embryos, the Oct4-GFP transgene is expressed during preimplantation stages and reflects expression of Oct4 protein. Mouse cumulus cell clones were produced from cells transgenic for Oct4-GFP (Szabó PE et al., 2002 Mech. Dev. 115, 157–160) as described (Boiani M et al., 2002 Genes Dev. 16, 1209–1219). Four-cell-stage clones and synchronous fertilized non-transgenic embryos were aggregated in micro-wells after removal of the zona pellucida using acid Tyrode’s solution. Aggregates were cultured to the blastocyst stage in -MEM supplemented with bovine serum albumin (0.4% w/v). All control chimeras produced from four-cell-stage fertilized non-transgenic and Oct4-GFP transgenic embryos formed blastocysts, and 15 of 20 had GFP-expressing cells. The majority of clone-wild-type aggregates developed to the blastocyst stage (35/40); however, contribution of GFP-expressing cells was observed in fewer blastocysts compared to controls (12/35; P<0.05). Contribution of GFP expressing clone cells to the ICM varied between 30% and 100% of cells as determined by subjective evaluation of GFP fluorescence overlaying bright-field images. During in vitro outgrowth formation of synchronous aggregation chimeras of clone and wild-type embryos, maintenance of clone contribution to the ICM mound was observed, but at a lower frequency (12% v. 34% at the blastocyst stage). The results suggest that aggregation with fertilized cells does not provide benefit to clone blastomeres during preimplantation stages. Possibly, clone blastomeres may not be competitive with wild-type blastomeres, or are developmentally asynchronous, which will be tested using asynchronous chimeras.


Zygote ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 281-287 ◽  
Author(s):  
Asangla Ao ◽  
Robert P. Erickson ◽  
Robert M.L. Winston ◽  
Alan H Handysude

SummaryGlobal activation of the embryonic genome occurs at the 4– to 8–cell stage in human embryos and is marked by continuation of early cleavage divisions in the presence of transcriptional inhibitors. Here we demonstrate, using recerse transcripase–polymerase chin reaction (Rt–PCR), the presence of transcripts for wo paternal Y chromosomal genes, ZFY and SRY in human preimplantation embryos. ZFY transcripts were detected as early as the pronucleate stage, 20–24 h post-insemination In vitro and at intermediate stages up to the blastocyst stage. SRY Transcripts were also detected at 2–cell to blastocyos observed in many mammalian species focuses attention on the role of events in six determination prior to gonad differentiation.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document