title: Isoform-specific imprinting of the MEST gene in porcine parthenogenetic fetuses.
abstract: Aberrant expression of imprinted genes is the main reason for developmental retardation in mammalian parthenogenetic fetuses. Mesoderm specific transcript (MEST) is a maternally imprinted gene that is linked to cancer and is necessary for normal early embryonic development. Tissue and isoform-specific imprinting of MEST have been identified in humans and mice, but have not yet been identified in pigs. In this study, the three isoforms of porcine MEST were identified using the GenBank and Ensembl sequence databases. Then, we determined MEST isoform-specific mRNA expression and methylation levels by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and bisulfite sequencing PCR analysis (BSP) between porcine parthenogenetic (PA) and control (Con) fetuses, respectively. Altogether, our results demonstrated that the expression of MEST-1A and MEST-1B has no evident differences between PA and Con groups; however, there is no expression of MEST-1C in PA fetuses. In addition, the results of BSP showed that the hypermethylation of exon 1c of MEST-1C was observed in PA samples. Thus, we suggested that MEST-1C was isoform-specific imprinting, which may be contributed to differential methylation status of exon 1c in porcine fetuses.
authors.affiliation: Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Embryo Engineering, College of Animal Science, Jilin University, Changchun 130062, China.
authors.forename: Xiaolan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Embryo Engineering, College of Animal Science, Jilin University, Changchun 130062, China.
authors.forename: Nan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Embryo Engineering, College of Animal Science, Jilin University, Changchun 130062, China.
authors.forename: Dongxu
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Embryo Engineering, College of Animal Science, Jilin University, Changchun 130062, China.
authors.forename: Xiaolei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Embryo Engineering, College of Animal Science, Jilin University, Changchun 130062, China.
authors.forename: Qingyan
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.affiliation: Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Embryo Engineering, College of Animal Science, Jilin University, Changchun 130062, China. Electronic address: ouyh@jlu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Hongsheng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ouyang
authors.affiliation: Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Embryo Engineering, College of Animal Science, Jilin University, Changchun 130062, China. Electronic address: lizj_1998@jlu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Zhanjun
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019175:DNA Methylation; D005091:Exons / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D005333:Fetus / Q000378:metabolism*; D018392:Genomic Imprinting; D008297:Male; D010312:Parthenogenesis; D011247:Pregnancy; D020033:Protein Isoforms / Q000235:genetics; D011506:Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D013552:Swine / Q000196:embryology / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D020033:Protein Isoforms; D011506:Proteins; C103637:mesoderm specific transcript protein
keywords: Imprinting; Isoform; MEST; Parthenogenesis; Porcine