73 Abnormal Reprogramming of Histone Acetylation in Cloned Bovine Embryos (original) (raw)

2005, Reproduction, Fertility and Development

Histone acetylation plays an important role in the chromatin structure prior to zygotic gene expression during early embryonic development. Successful animal clones indicate that differentiated somatic nuclei must be reprogrammed to some extent during pre-implantation development. However, the molecular mechanisms regarding epigenetic reprogramming of somatic nuclei in the early-stage embryos are poorly understood. To test this, the patterns of hyperacetylated histone H4 lysine 5 (AcH4K5) in the nuclear-transferred (NT) embryos were monitored, comparing in vitro fertilized (IVF) embryos and Trichostatin A (TSA)-NT embryos with TSA-treated cells. The intensity signals of AcH4K5 were observed in early-stage embryos and somatic cells (bovine ear skin fibroblasts composed of about 80% at G0/G1 stage) by immunofluorescence analysis with anti-AcH4K5 using image the analyzer system, SigmaScan-pro V5.01 (SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). Our data were analyzed by analysis of variance (ANOVA) u...