Successful inactivation of endogenous Oct-3/4 and c-mos genes in mouse preimplantation embryos and oocytes using short interfering RNAs.
Understanding oocyte maturation and early development in mammals is very important, especially because these cells serve as a source of materials useful in medical applications, such as ES cells. However, the limited availability of oocytes and embryos hampers the molecular dissection of the very early stage of mammalian development. Recently, the RNA interference technology has been acknowledged to be very effective and useful in diverse groups of cells, including mammalian cells. In this study, we examined whether short interfering RNAs (siRNAs) are applicable to mouse oocytes and preimplantation embryos, by targeting two genes, namely, Oct-3/4 and c-mos. siRNA injections successfully extinguished the production of these target genes. Moreover, the siRNA-injected oocytes and embryos showed phenotypes very similar to those exhibited by Oct-3/4- or Mos-knockout mice in previous studies. Accordingly, we concluded that siRNA is a useful tool in molecular studies on the early development of mouse.
Department of Biological Information, Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Assembly, Graduate School of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 4259 Nagatsuta, Midori-ku, 226-8501, Yokohama, Japan.
Mi-Hyun
MH
Kim
Xunmei
X
Yuan
Sayaka
S
Okumura
Fuyuki
F
Ishikawa
D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase / Q000032:analysis; D000818:Animals; D001755:Blastocyst / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D016258:Genes, mos; D008540:Meiosis; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D050814:Octamer Transcription Factor-3; D009865:Oocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D017231:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-mos / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering; D022661:RNA, Untranslated / Q000235:genetics*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics*
D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D050814:Octamer Transcription Factor-3; C494174:Pou5f1 protein, mouse; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering; D022661:RNA, Untranslated; D014157:Transcription Factors; D017231:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-mos; D000469:Alkaline Phosphatase