Project description:Global transcriptional silencing is a highly conserved evolutionary event central to the transition from the fully differentiated oocyte to the totipotent embryo. Despite its importance in the development of all animals, this pivotal genome-wide event remains poorly understood. Here, we report the unexpected finding that oocyte global transcriptional silencing depends on an mRNA decay activator. Oocyte-specific loss of ZFP36L2—an RNA-binding protein critical for AU-rich element-mediated mRNA decay—prevents oocytes from undergoing global transcriptional silencing. ZFP36L2- deficient oocytes are developmentally incompetent, with defects in maturation and fertilization leading to complete female infertility. Single cell RNA-seq analysis revealed that ZFP36L2 regulates scores of transcription regulators with central roles in chromatin modification and transcription initiation and elongation. This dysregulation resulted in failure to accumulate histone methylation marks associated with the silent, competent state. Our results define a critical role for an oocyte mRNA decay activator in the downregulation of transcription activators, leading to histone methylation, global transcriptional silencing and competence to transition from oocyte to embryo.
Project description:Expression data from prepubertal, peripubertal, and adult derived mouse oocytes, and from germinal vesicle (GV), in vivo matured, and in vitro matured mouse oocytes. Oocytes derived from prepubertal females, or oocytes matured in vitro, are less developmentally competent compared to adult derived, or in vivo matured, oocytes, indicated by decreased embryonic development. One potential mechanism for decreased developmental potetential in prepubertal or in vitro matured oocytes is inadequate or inappropriate RNA degradation during oocyte maturation (progression from GV to MII). To investigate mechanisms involved in establishing oocyte cytoplasmic maturation and developmental competence, Affymetrix GeneChip microarrays were used. Keywords: Oocyte developmental competence
Project description:Expression data from prepubertal, peripubertal, and adult derived mouse oocytes, and from germinal vesicle (GV), in vivo matured, and in vitro matured mouse oocytes. Oocytes derived from prepubertal females, or oocytes matured in vitro, are less developmentally competent compared to adult derived, or in vivo matured, oocytes, indicated by decreased embryonic development. One potential mechanism for decreased developmental potetential in prepubertal or in vitro matured oocytes is inadequate or inappropriate RNA degradation during oocyte maturation (progression from GV to MII). To investigate mechanisms involved in establishing oocyte cytoplasmic maturation and developmental competence, Affymetrix GeneChip microarrays were used. Keywords: Oocyte developmental competence The study encompassed three experimental designs using female B6D2F1 mice: 1) In vitro matured oocytes were obtained from d20 (prepubertal), d26 (peripubertal), and 7-8 wk old (adult) mice; 2) in vivo and in vitro matured oocytes were obtained from d26 mice; and 3) GV, in vivo matured, and in vitro matured oocytes were obtained from 7-8 wk old mice. RNA was extracted from pools of 150 oocytes and hybridized onto the Affymetrix microarrays.
Project description:The oocyte maturation is a poorly understood process. Patl2 is involved in human bad egg syndrome and is a translation factor. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of the lack of Patl2 on the transcriptomes of GV and MII oocytes.
