title: Effects of 3-hydroxyflavone on the cellular and molecular characteristics of bovine embryos produced by somatic-cell nuclear transfer.
abstract: This study aimed to investigate the effects of 3-hydroxyflavone, a natural antioxidant pigment enriched in vegetables, on the developmental cellular and molecular characteristics of bovine somatic-cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) embryos. There were no significant differences in the cleavage rate at 48 hr of culture or in the inner cell mass (ICM)-to-trophectoderm (TE) ratio between 3-hydroxyflavone addition and untreated (control) groups (P > 0.05). 3-hydroxyflavone (20 µM) did, however, increase the cleavage rate at 24 hr of culture and the blastocyst-formation rate on Days 6 and 7 (P < 0.05); decrease the levels of intracellular reactive oxygen species in two-, four-, and eight-cell stage embryos (P < 0.05); increase H3K9ac levels in two- and four-cell stages (P < 0.05); increase the total cell number; and decrease the apoptosis index in Day-7 blastocysts. Furthermore, the addition of 3-hydroxyflavone resulted in lower expression of the stress-related gene HSP70.1 and pro-apoptotic gene BAX, as well as higher expression of the anti-apoptotic gene BCL-xL and pluripotency-related genes OCT4 and SOX2 in Day-7 blastocysts produced by SCNT (P < 0.05). The addition of 3-hydroxyflavone during in vitro culture thus exerted beneficial effects on preimplantation development of bovine SCNT embryos both at the cellular and molecular levels.
authors.affiliation: College of Veterinary Medicine, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi Province, PR China; Key Laboratory of Animal Biotechnology, the Ministry of Agriculture, PR China.
authors.forename: Jianmin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Su
authors.forename: Yongsheng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Wenzhe
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Mingqing
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Yefei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Song
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hua
authors.forename: Fusheng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Quan
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D001755:Blastocyst / Q000737:chemistry / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D002417:Cattle; D005260:Female; D005419:Flavonoids / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D053652:Nuclear Transfer Techniques; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D005419:Flavonoids; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; C041477:3-hydroxyflavone