Maternal TET3 is dispensable for embryonic development but is required for neonatal growth.
The development of multicellular organisms is accompanied by reprogramming of the epigenome in specific cells, with the epigenome of most cell types becoming fixed after differentiation. Genome-wide reprogramming of DNA methylation occurs in primordial germ cells and in fertilized eggs during mammalian embryogenesis. The 5-methylcytosine (5mC) content of DNA thus undergoes a marked decrease in the paternal pronucleus of mammalian zygotes. This loss of DNA methylation has been thought to be mediated by an active demethylation mechanism independent of replication and to be required for development. TET3-mediated sequential oxidation of 5mC has recently been shown to contribute to the genome-wide loss of 5mC in the paternal pronucleus of mouse zygotes. We now show that TET3 localizes not only to the paternal pronucleus but also to the maternal pronucleus and oxidizes both paternal and maternal DNA in mouse zygotes, although these phenomena are less pronounced in the female pronucleus. Genetic ablation of TET3 in oocytes had no significant effect on oocyte development, maturation, or fertilization or on pregnancy, but it resulted in neonatal sublethality. Our results thus indicate that zygotic 5mC oxidation mediated by maternal TET3 is required for neonatal growth but is not essential for development.
Division of Molecular Immunology, Medical Institute of Bioregulation, Kyushu University, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 812-8582, Japan.|Advanced Biological Information Research Division, INAMORI Frontier Research Center, Kyushu University, 744 Motooka, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan.
Yu-Ichi
Y
Tsukada
Department of Systems Medicine, Sakaguchi Laboratory, Keio University School of Medicine, 35 Shinanomachi, Shinjuku, Tokyo 160-8562, Japan.
Tomohiko
T
Akiyama
Division of Cell Regulation Systems, Medical Institute of Bioregulation, Kyushu University, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 812-8582, Japan.
Keiichi I
KI
Nakayama
D044503:5-Methylcytosine / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D019175:DNA Methylation / Q000235:genetics; D004261:DNA Replication / Q000235:genetics; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D049308:Dioxygenases; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000196:embryology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D047108:Embryonic Development / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005306:Fertilization / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D041681:NIH 3T3 Cells; D009865:Oocytes / Q000201:enzymology / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D011247:Pregnancy; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D015053:Zygote / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism
D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D044503:5-Methylcytosine; D049308:Dioxygenases; C551915:Tet3 protein, mouse