Standard assessment of gene methylation imprinted tssc4 in placents of pregnancies bovine produced by different biotechnologies

• Grant number: 15/01708-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: June 01, 2015
• End date: May 31, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Animal Reproduction
• Principal Investigator: Flavia Lombardi Lopes
• Grantee: Rodolpho Junqueira Borduchi
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária (FMVA). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Araçatuba. Araçatuba , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The deployment mechanisms and placental formation are indispensable conditions for the continuity of mammal species. In various types of placentation, a cell range ensures proper development and performance of placental function. The differentiation of trophoblast cells in these cell types is coordinated through the action of several transcription factors. However, the mechanisms that control the expression or silencing of these factors, and orchestrating placental differentiation remain poorly understood. Epigenetic refers to processes that regulate gene expression without affecting the genetic code. Through the control of gene sequences without changing the nucleic sequence itself, genetically identical cells can be distinguished phenotypically, depending on your location and/or function. The embryonic development process is under intense epigenetic control, with different epigenetic processes regulating the differentiation of stem cells into specialized cells. Since the production of the first animal by nuclear transfer of somatic cells, several species have been successfully cloned. But the production of individuals able to survive until the adult stage is still inefficient. It is believed that incomplete reprogramming of donor cells results in failure in the production of totipotent cells and persistent epigenetic changes during embryonic and fetal development. The TSSC4 gene, evaluated in this study, has its placental expression controlled by imprinting, but there are no studies on the control of this gene in the animal placenta generated by biotech reproduction. This study aims to evaluate the pattern of methylation of the imprinted gene TSSC4 in somatic tissues cattle and also in placentas from pregnancies produced by embryo transfer (ET), in vitro fertilization (IVF) and nuclear transfer (NT);Despite the importance of the cellular mechanisms involved in placental development, is the same in vivo or in vitro, little is known about the epigenetic control over this process. Understanding the role of epigenetics in the control of reproductive processes and the ability to control epigenetic processes during in vitro production of embryos and cloning of cattle, could generate enormous advances in the basic sciences as well as in the field of reproductive biotechnologies.