title: Tauroursodeoxycholic acid improves pre-implantation development of porcine SCNT embryo by endoplasmic reticulum stress inhibition.
abstract: The aim of this study is to investigate whether endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress attenuation could improve porcine somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) embryo developmental competence. We treated porcine SCNT embryos with TUDCA (tauroursodeoxycholic acid, an inhibitor of ER stress) and/or TM (tunicamycin, an ER stress inducer), and examined embryonic developmental potential, embryo quality, the levels of ER stress markers (XBP1 protein and mRNA) and apoptosis-related-genes (BAX and BCL2 mRNA). Immunostaining detected X-box-binding protein (XBP1), a key gene regulator during ER stress, at all stages of SCNT embryo development. Embryo development analysis revealed that TUDCA treatment markedly increased (p<0.05) blastocyst formation rate, total cell number and inner cell mass (ICM) cell number compared to untreated control group. The TUDCA and TM groups showed significant alterations in XBP1 protein and XBP1-s mRNA levels compared to controls (lower and higher, respectively; p<0.05). Also, TUDCA treatment reduced oxidative stress by up-regulation of the antioxidant, GSH. TUNEL assay showed that TUDCA treatment significantly reduced apoptosis in porcine SCNT blastocysts confirmed by decreased pro-apoptotic BAX and increased anti-apoptotic BCL2 mRNA levels. Collectively, our results indicated that TUDCA can enhance the developmental potential of porcine SCNT embryos by attenuating ER-stress and reducing apoptosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Science & Biotechnology, Research Center for Transgenic Cloned Pigs, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 34134, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Science & Biotechnology, Research Center for Transgenic Cloned Pigs, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 34134, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jae Eun
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Science & Biotechnology, Research Center for Transgenic Cloned Pigs, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 34134, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Reza K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Oqani
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Science & Biotechnology, Research Center for Transgenic Cloned Pigs, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 34134, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: So Yeon
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Resource Development, National Institute of Animal Science, Cheonan, 31001, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Eun Seok
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Resource Development, National Institute of Animal Science, Cheonan, 31001, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Yong Dae
authors.initials: YD
authors.lastname: Jeong
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Improvement, Chungnam Livestock Institute, Cheongyang-gun, Chungman, 33350, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jun Jong
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Baek
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Science & Biotechnology, Research Center for Transgenic Cloned Pigs, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 34134, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: dijin@cnu.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Dong Il
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Jin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D010064:Embryo Implantation / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian; D047108:Embryonic Development / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D059865:Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress / Q000187:drug effects*; D053652:Nuclear Transfer Techniques; D013552:Swine; D013655:Taurochenodeoxycholic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D013655:Taurochenodeoxycholic Acid; C031655:ursodoxicoltaurine
keywords: Apoptosis; Endoplasmic reticulum stress; Porcine SCNT embryos; TUDCA; XBP1