Mouse parthenogenetic embryos with monoallelic H19 expression can develop to day 17.5 of gestation.
In mammals, both maternal and paternal genomes are required for a fetus to develop normally to term. This requirement is due to the epigenetic modification of genomes during gametogenesis, which leads to an unequivalent expression of imprinted genes between parental alleles. Parthenogenetic mouse embryos that contain genomes from nongrowing (ng) and fully grown (fg) oocytes can develop into 13.5-day-old fetuses, in which paternally and maternally expressed imprinted genes are expressed and repressed, respectively, from the ng oocyte allele. The H19 gene, however, is biallelically expressed with the silent status Igf2 in such parthenotes. In this study, we examined whether the regulation of H19 monoallelic expression enhances the survival of parthenogenetic embryos. The results clearly show that the ng(H19-KO)/fg(wt) parthenogenetic embryos carrying the ng-oocyte genome that had been deleted by the H19 transcription unit successfully developed as live fetuses for 17.5 gestation days. Control experiments revealed that this unique phenomenon occurs irrespective of the genetic background effect. Quantitative gene expression analysis showed that day 12.5 ng(H19-KO)/fg(wt) parthenogenetic fetuses expressed Igf2 and H19 genes at <2 and 82% of the levels in the controls. Histological analysis demonstrated that the placenta of ng(H19-KO)/fg(wt) parthenotes was afflicted with atrophia with severe necrosis and other anomalies. The present results suggest that the cessation of H19 gene expression from the ng-allele causes extended development of the fetus and that functional defects in the placenta could be fatal for the ontogeny.
Kono
Tomohiro
T
Department of BioScience, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 156-8502, Japan. tomohiro@nodai.ac.jp
Sotomaru
Yusuke
Y
Katsuzawa
Yukiko
Y
Dandolo
Luisa
L
D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D001284:Atrophy; D004624:Embryo Transfer; D005314:Embryonic and Fetal Development / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005313:Fetal Death / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D005326:Fetal Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D005333:Fetus / Q000473:pathology; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D016678:Genome; D018392:Genomic Imprinting; D005865:Gestational Age; D007335:Insulin-Like Growth Factor II / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008808:Mice, Inbred CBA; D009336:Necrosis; D009865:Oocytes / Q000166:cytology; D010312:Parthenogenesis / Q000235:genetics*; D010920:Placenta / Q000473:pathology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D062085:RNA, Long Noncoding; D022661:RNA, Untranslated / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*
D005326:Fetal Proteins; C094335:H19 long non-coding RNA; D062085:RNA, Long Noncoding; D022661:RNA, Untranslated; D007335:Insulin-Like Growth Factor II