Abstract

We carried out DNA microarray-based global expression profiling of all preimplantation stages in mouse. They revealed and characterized the distinctive patterns of maternal RNA degradation and two major transient waves of de novo transcription: zygotic genome activation (ZGA) and mid-preimplantation gene activation (MGA). Through these analyses, we identified a number of genes that show unique expression patterns. We have demonstrated that one of them, named Zscan4, is expressed exclusively in 2-cell mouse embryos and ES cells and plays a critical role in the progression of preimplantation development. We also identified a gene, named Trim43, whose expression began at the 2-cell stage, peaked at the 8-cell/morula stage, and dramatically fell by the blastocyst stage. Another gene (Chuk) shows constant RNA levels throughout preimplantation development and can be used as an internal standard suitable for quantitative RT-PCR. We also developed a technique to do large-scale Whole Mount In Situ Hybridization (WISH), which allows us to reveal the spatial expression patterns of 91 genes in mouse preimplantation embryos. We are currently studying the functions of these genes in detail.

  Funding Agency

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Type
Intramural Research (Z01)
Project #
1Z01AG000655-10
Application #
7732272
Study Section
Project Start
Project End
Budget Start
Budget End
Support Year
10
Fiscal Year
2008
Total Cost
$320,130
Indirect Cost

  Institution

Name
National Institute on Aging
Department
Type
DUNS #
City
State
Country
United States
Zip Code

  Publications

Vallejo, Griselda; Maschi, Darío; Mestre-Citrinovitz, Ana C et al. (2010) Changes in global gene expression during in vitro decidualization of rat endometrial stromal cells. J Cell Physiol 222:127-37
Vallee, Maud; Aiba, Kazuhiro; Piao, Yulan et al. (2008) Comparative analysis of oocyte transcript profiles reveals a high degree of conservation among species. Reproduction 135:439-48
Falco, Geppino; Lee, Sung-Lim; Stanghellini, Ilaria et al. (2007) Zscan4: a novel gene expressed exclusively in late 2-cell embryos and embryonic stem cells. Dev Biol 307:539-50
Rogers, N T; Halet, G; Piao, Y et al. (2006) The absence of a Ca(2+) signal during mouse egg activation can affect parthenogenetic preimplantation development, gene expression patterns, and blastocyst quality. Reproduction 132:45-57
Falco, Geppino; Stanghellini, Ilaria; Ko, Minoru S H (2006) Use of Chuk as an internal standard suitable for quantitative RT-PCR in mouse preimplantation embryos. Reprod Biomed Online 13:394-403
Park, Jung-Min; Kohn, Matthew J; Bruinsma, Monique W et al. (2006) The multifunctional RNA-binding protein La is required for mouse development and for the establishment of embryonic stem cells. Mol Cell Biol 26:1445-51
Yoshikawa, Toshiyuki; Piao, Yulan; Zhong, Jinhui et al. (2006) High-throughput screen for genes predominantly expressed in the ICM of mouse blastocysts by whole mount in situ hybridization. Gene Expr Patterns 6:213-24
Ko, Minoru S H (2006) Expression profiling of the mouse early embryo: reflections and perspectives. Dev Dyn 235:2437-48
Hamatani, Toshio; Ko, Minoru Sh; Yamada, Mitsutoshi et al. (2006) Global gene expression profiling of preimplantation embryos. Hum Cell 19:98-117
Ko, Minoru S H (2005) Molecular biology of preimplantation embryos: primer for philosophical discussions. Reprod Biomed Online 10 Suppl 1:80-7

Showing the most recent 10 out of 28 publications