65 EFFECT OF TRICHOSTATIN A AND 5-AZA-2′-DEOXYCYTIDINE TREATMENT OF DONOR CELLS, FUSED EMBRYOS, OR BOTH ON THE DEVELOPMENTAL COMPETENCE, QUALITY, AND EPIGENETIC STATUS OF CLONED BUFFALO (BUBALUS BUBALIS) EMBRYOS
M. Saini A B , N. L. Selokar B , H. Agrawal A , S. K. Singla A , M. S. Chauhan A , R. S. Manik A and P. Palta AA ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal, Haryana, India;
B ICAR-Central Institute for Research on Buffaloes, Hisar, Haryana, India
Reproduction, Fertility and Development 28(2) 162-162 https://doi.org/10.1071/RDv28n2Ab65
Published: 3 December 2015
Abstract
Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is a promising technology in buffalo for multiplication of elite animals, species conservation, and production of transgenic embryos for therapeutic applications. However, the cloning efficiency obtained in this species is very low, which might be due to improper reprogramming of donor cells after SCNT. Treatment of donor cells or fused embryos or both with epigenetic modifiers might be a suitable approach to improve the ability of donor cells to be reprogrammed. The present study was aimed at examining the effects of treatment of donor cells (24 h before SCNT) or fused embryos (10 h post-electrofusion) or both with 50 nM TSA + 7.5 nM 5-aza-dC on the developmental competence, quality, and epigenetic status of buffalo embryos produced by hand-made cloning (HMC) as described earlier (Saini et al. 2014 Reprod. Fertil. Dev. doi: 10.1071/RD14176). The percentage data were analysed using SYSTAT 12.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) after arcsine transformation. Differences between means were analysed by one-way ANOVA followed by Fisher’s least significant difference test. The blastocyst rate was significantly higher (P < 0.05) and the apoptotic index was significantly lower (P < 0.05) in embryos produced from donor cells or fused embryos or both treated with TSA + 5-aza-dC than that of controls (Table 1). However, the cleavage rate and the total cell number were not significantly different among all the groups. The global level of H3K18ac, examined by immunofluorescence staining, was higher (P < 0.05) and that of H3K27me3 was lower (P < 0.01) in blastocysts produced from donor cells or fused embryos or both treated with TSA + 5-aza-dC than that of controls. These results show that treatment of donor cells, fused embryos, or both with TSA + 5-aza-dC improves the developmental competence and quality, and alters the epigenetic status of buffalo embryos produced by HMC. However, the effects of treatment with these epigenetic modifiers on the pregnancy rate require further studies.
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