title: Onset of paternal gene activation in early mouse embryos fertilized with transgenic mouse sperm.
abstract: We investigated the onset of paternal gene expression in the early mouse embryo. We obtained transgenic mouse embryos by fertilizing BD (C57BL/6N x DBA) F1 hybrid female oocytes in vitro, with sperm from homozygous transgenic males carrying integrated chicken beta-actin promoter-driven firefly luciferase cDNA. We then examined the RNA and protein synthesis of the luciferase gene in embryos from the 1- to 2-cell stage. RNA transcripts of the luciferase gene were first detected in the 1-cell stage embryos as early as 13 hr postinsemination, just prior to elongation. By photon-count imaging, functional luciferase was identified at the 2-cell stage 23 hr postinsemination. These findings indicate that the paternal endogenous gene is already transcribed in the late 1-cell embryos, although paternally derived protein is not synthesized until the 2-cell stage. Therefore, these results suggest that the embryonic gene is activated as early as the late 1-cell stage.
authors: NT Science Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan.
authors: K
authors: K
authors: Matsumoto
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Anzai
authors: N
authors: N
authors: Nakagata
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Takahashi
authors: Y
authors: Y
authors: Takahashi
authors: K
authors: K
authors: Miyata
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001755:Blastocyst / Q000378:metabolism*; D002645:Chickens; D001517:Coleoptera / Q000201:enzymology; D017931:DNA Primers; D005260:Female; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D008156:Luciferases / Q000096:biosynthesis; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008813:Mice, Inbred ICR; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009865:Oocytes / Q000502:physiology; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000502:physiology*; D015533:Transcriptional Activation
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; D017931:DNA Primers; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D008156:Luciferases