title: Vitamin C enhances in vitro and in vivo development of porcine somatic cell nuclear transfer embryos.
abstract: The reprogramming of differentiated cells into a totipotent embryonic state through somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is still an inefficient process. Previous studies revealed that the generation of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells from mouse and human fibroblasts could be significantly enhanced with vitamin C treatment. Here, we investigated the effects of vitamin C, to our knowledge for the first time, on the in vitro and in vivo development of porcine SCNT embryos. The rate of blastocyst development in SCNT embryos treated with 50μg/mL vitamin C 15h after activation (36.0%) was significantly higher than that of untreated SCNT embryos (11.5%). The enhanced in vitro development rate of vitamin C-treated embryos was associated with an increased acetylation level of histone H4 lysine 5 and higher Oct4, Sox2 and Klf4 expression levels in blastocysts, as determined by real-time PCR. In addition, treatment with vitamin C resulted in an increased pregnancy rate in pigs. These findings suggest that treatment with vitamin C is beneficial for enhancement of the in vitro and in vivo development of porcine SCNT embryos.
authors.affiliation: Jilin Province Key Laboratory of Animal Embryo Engineering, College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Jilin University, 5333 Xi An DaLu, Changchun 130062, PR China.
authors.forename: Yongye
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Xiaochun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Wanhua
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Dong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Jianguo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Liangxue
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.forename: Daxin
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pang
authors.forename: Hongsheng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ouyang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001205:Ascorbic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology*; D065150:Cellular Reprogramming / Q000187:drug effects*; D016922:Cellular Senescence / Q000187:drug effects*; D019976:Cloning, Organism / Q000379:methods*; D004624:Embryo Transfer / Q000379:methods*; D047108:Embryonic Development / Q000187:drug effects; D000090062:Kruppel-Like Factor 4; D053652:Nuclear Transfer Techniques; D013552:Swine; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors
chemical_list: C000715467:KLF4 protein, human; C000715468:Klf4 protein, mouse; D000090062:Kruppel-Like Factor 4; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; D001205:Ascorbic Acid