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Epigenetic modifications during oocyte growth correlates with extended parthenogenetic development in the mouse

Nature Genetics volume 13, pages 91–94 (1996)Cite this article

Abstract

In mammals, the maternal and paternal genomes are required for embryonic development1–5. This is due to genomic imprinting which leads to the expression or repression of genes solely on the basis of the parent from which they were inherited6–9 As a result, parthenogenetic embryos die before day 10 of gestation and show limited development of extra-embryonic membranes3,4. Maternal imprinting is established during oogenesis6–11 and is associated with allele specific modifications in DMA methylation. We have investigated epigenetic modifications during oocyte growth using nuclear transfer techniques to produce mature oocytes with maternal chro-matin derived from non-growing oocytes. Parthenogenetic activation of such oocytes leads to the development of normal size fetuses with a well developed placenta on day 13.5 of gestation; three days further than previously recorded for parthenogenetic development. In contrast, after fertilization, only one embryo was recovered on 9.5 days of gestation. Further, in these embryos we investigated the well characterized methylation pattern of the maternally expressed insulin-like growth factor II receptor gene (lgf2r) and found that the pattern of methylation was indeed different to that of fertilized control embryos. Thus, the embryonic phenotypes observed here correlate with changes in epigenetic events that normally occur during oocyte growth.

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Author notes

  1. John Carroll

    Present address: Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology and Department of Physiology, University College London, GowerSt, London, WC1E 6BT, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  1. NODAI Research Institute, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, 156, Japan

    Tomohiro Kono, Yayoi Obata, Tomomi Yoshimzu & Tatsuo Nakahara

  2. MRC Experimental Embryology and Teratology Unit, St George's Hospital Medical School, Cranmer Terrace, London, SW17 ORE, UK

    John Carroll

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  1. Tomohiro Kono
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  2. Yayoi Obata
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  4. Tatsuo Nakahara
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Kono, T., Obata, Y., Yoshimzu, T. et al. Epigenetic modifications during oocyte growth correlates with extended parthenogenetic development in the mouse. Nat Genet 13, 91–94 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1038/ng0596-91

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