title: Embryonic development and gene expression of porcine SCNT embryos treated with sodium butyrate.
abstract: Incomplete epigenetic modification is one of important reasons of inefficient reprogramming of the donor cell nuclei in ooplasm after somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). It may also underlie the observed reduced viability of cloned embryos. Sodium butyrate (NaBu) is a natural histone deacetylase inhibitor that is produced in the intestine. In the current study, we evaluated the effects of NaBu on preimplantation development, histone acetylation, and gene expression in porcine SCNT embryos. Our results showed that the blastocyst rate (24.88 ± 2.09) of cloned embryos treated with 1.0 mM NaBu for 12 hr after activation was significantly higher (P < 0.05) than that of untreated cloned embryos (13.15 ± 3.07). In addition, treated embryos displayed a global acetylated histone H3 at lysine 14 profile similar to that of in vitro fertilized (IVF) embryos during preimplantation development. Lower levels of Oct4 and Bcl-2, but higher levels of Hdac1, in SCNT embryos at the two-cell and blastocyst stages were observed, compared with those in the IVF counterparts. The four-cell embryos showed no differences in the levels of these genes among IVF embryos or SCNT embryos treated with or without NaBu; however, the levels of Dnmt3b were significantly different. NaBu-treated SCNT embryos showed similar levels of Oct4, Bcl-2, and Dnmt3b as in IVF blastocysts. These results indicated that NaBu treatment in SCNT embryos alters their histone acetylation pattern to provide beneficial effects on in vitro developmental competence and gene expression.
authors.affiliation: Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Embryo Engineering, Centre for Animal Embryo Engineering of Jilin Province, College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China.
authors.forename: Limei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Guangqi
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Jiang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.forename: Jiyu
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guan
authors.forename: Yupeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Ziyi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000107:Acetylation; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001755:Blastocyst; D002087:Butyrates / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017931:DNA Primers; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000187:drug effects*; D047108:Embryonic Development; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006657:Histones / Q000378:metabolism; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013552:Swine / Q000196:embryology*
chemical_list: D002087:Butyrates; D017931:DNA Primers; D006657:Histones