title: The interferon α-responsive gene, Ifrg15, plays vital roles during mouse early embryonic development.
abstract: The interferon alpha-responsive gene (Ifrg15) mRNA is highly expressed in various stages during preimplantation mammalian embryo development. Unfortunately, few studies have investigated the effect of Ifrg15 in this process. In mammals, the fusion of male and female pronuclei generates a diploid zygote, and is an important step for subsequent cleavage and blastocyst formation. Here, by using RNA interference, rescue experiments, immunofluorescence staining and live cell observations, we found that preimplantation embryo development was arrested at the 1-cell stage after knocking down Ifrg15 expression. This induced DNA damage and prevented the cleavage of embryos. Furthermore, the effect of Ifrg15 deficiency in arresting preimplantation embryo development produced by specific short interfering RNA microinjection was concentration-dependent. Using transcriptome expression profiles, gene ontogeny functional annotation and enrichment analysis, we gained 197 enriched pathways based on 1445 differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Of these, 12 pathways and about one third of the DEGs were involved in DNA damage, DNA repair, cell cycle, and developmental processes. Thus, the IFRG15 protein might be an important molecule for maintaining genomic integrity and stability through upregulating or downregulating a cascade of genes to permit normal preimplantation embryo development.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Department of Reproduction, Nanjing Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210004, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Ye
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Department of Reproduction, Nanjing Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210004, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Jiayi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Department of Reproduction, Nanjing Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210004, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Chun
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Department of Reproduction, Nanjing Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210004, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Xiaojiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Reproduction, Changzhou Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Medical University, Changzhou, 213003, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Department of Reproduction, Nanjing Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210004, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Junqiang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Department of Histology and Embryology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210004, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Ran
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Huo
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Molecular and Medical Biotechnology and College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Chang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Department of Reproduction, Nanjing Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210004, Jiangsu, China. thua8@163.com.
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Department of Reproduction, Nanjing Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210004, Jiangsu, China. lingxiufeng_njfy@163.com.
authors.forename: Xiufeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ling
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004249:DNA Damage; D047108:Embryonic Development; D005260:Female; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice / Q000196:embryology* / Q000235:genetics*; D034622:RNA Interference; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering / Q000235:genetics; D059467:Transcriptome
chemical_list: C554783:Ifrg15 protein, mouse; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering
keywords: DNA damage; Ifrg15; Preimplantation embryo development; Pronuclear fusion failure