Aberrant Expression of Imprinted Gene Mest (Peg۱) in Blastocyst-Stage Mouse Embryos following IVF and EmbryoCulture

Background: Genomic imprinting, a specialized epigeneticmechanism of transcriptional regulation, results in monoallelicexpression of a group of mammalian genes. Disturbances inthese asymmetric parental states can have intense consequencesfor growth and development such as Beckwith-Wiedemannsyndrome (BWS) and Angelman syndrome. Preimplantationembryos are vulnerable to epigenetic modifications because extensiveepigenetic remodeling takes place during early development.Thus in this study expression of Mest (Peg۱), one of themost important imprinted genes, in blastocysts obtained fromin vitro fertilization (IVF) was compared with fresh blastocystsin a mouse model.Materials and Methods: In control group, fresh blastocystswere collected from uterine horns of superovulated mice ۹۴h post-HCG. For IVF group, in vitro produced zygotes werecultured in KSOMaa medium supplemented with ۱۰% bovineserum albumin (BSA) under mineral oil for ۹۶ h at ۳۷ °C in ahumidified atmosphere of ۵ % CO۲ and ۹۵ % air up to blastocystsstage. qRT-PCR was carried out to evaluate the frequencyof the levels of Mest (Peg۱) gene in the blastocysts.Results: The result showed that quantitative level of Mest(Peg۱) gene was significantly higher in blastocysts derivedfrom IVF in comparison to fresh blastocysts (p<۰.۰۵). Conclusion: In conclusion, IVF and preimplantation embryocause disruption in Mest (Peg۱) gene in blastocysts.

کلیدواژه ها:

IVF ، Epigenetic ، Genomic Imprinting ، Mest ، Blastocyst