Cell-secreted vesicles containing miRNAs modulate epigenetic changes during in vit...
| Grant number: | 14/21042-6 |
| Support type: | Scholarships in Brazil - Master |
| Effective date (Start): | February 01, 2015 |
| Effective date (End): | January 31, 2017 |
| Field of knowledge: | Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine |
| Principal Investigator: | Felipe Perecin |
| Grantee: | Monalisa Medrado Bomfim |
| Home Institution: | Faculdade de Zootecnia e Engenharia de Alimentos (FZEA). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Pirassununga , SP, Brazil |
Abstract The bovine embryo In vitro production technology is widely used in Brazil. However, the rates of efficiency using this technique are smaller compared to in vivo produced embryos. This reduced efficiency is believed to be due to the embryos susceptibility to in vitro-related stress factors, mainly the oxidative stress determined by the high oxygen tension in embryo culture that lead to high concentration of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS). In mammals, previous studies demonstrated that the oxidative stress interfere on embryo development ability though epigenetic modifications, such DNA methylation, that is associated with maintenance of gene expression patterns. Such modifications alter significantly the expression of post-transcriptional gene regulators that coordinate cells growing and differentiation, particularly the miR-199a. Previous reports indicate that under in vitro culture condition the expression of miR-199a is altered due to DNA methylation modifications, and consequently its target genes ERBB2 and ERBB3 expression are also modified. The proteins coded by ERBB2 and ERBB3, respectively ErbB2 and ErbB3, have been associated to embryo and maternal crosstalk during embryo implantation. From these observations it is possible hypothesize that in vitro embryo production modify the levels of the proteins ErbB2 and ErbB3 in bovine embryos and that this effect is mediated by changes in expression of miR-199a as an oxidative stress response. The present study aim to determine the oxidative stress effect on miR-199a expression during embryo in vitro development and to determine the effects of miR-199a expression modification on target genes and proteins, ERBB2 and ERBB3. It is expected that the results of this project will contribute to elucidate some of the effects of the in vitro culture system on the fine-tuning of signaling pathways involved in the establishment of pregnancy. | |