GSE122738
Melatonin mediates stress defense and improves development competence of bovine oocytes
Oocyte quality, which is directly related to reprogramming competence, is a major important limiting factor in animal cloning efficiency. Compared with oocytes matured in vivo, in vitro matured (IVM) oocytes exhibit lower oocyte quality and reprogramming competence primarily because of their higher levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS). In this study, we investigate whether supplementing the oocyte maturation medium with melatonin, a free radical scavenger, could improve oocyte quality and reprogramming competence. We found that 10-9 M melatonin effectively alleviated oxidative stress, markedly decreased early apoptosis levels, recovered the integrity of mitochondria, ameliorated the spindle assembly and chromosome alignment in oocytes, and significantly promoted subsequent cloned embryo development in vitro. We also analyzed the effects of melatonin on epigenetic modifications in bovine oocytes. Melatonin increased the global H3K9 acetylation levels, reduced the H3K9 methylation levels, and minimally affected DNA methylation and hydroxymethylation. Genome-wide expression analysis of genes affected by melatonin during oocyte maturation was conducted by high-throughput scRNA sequencing. We found that several important genes altered by melatonin were involved in oocyte stress defense. These genes included GSTP1, mitochondrial DNA polymerase POLG, mitochondrial ATP synthase ATP5E, centriole-enriched gene CEP295, spindle assembly-related gene TCTP, cytoprotection, and anti-apoptosis-related gene HSP27. Our results indicated critical roles of melatonin during bovine oocyte maturation and development. Overall design: Using RNA-seq, we sequenced six samples, namely, MII oocytes of control (n=3, C1, C2, C3) and 10-9 M melatonin treated (n=3, M1, M2, M3) groups.