China Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine ›› 2022, Vol. 49 ›› Issue (6): 2259-2269.doi: 10.16431/j.cnki.1671-7236.2022.06.026

• Genetics and Breeding • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Research Progress of Epigenetic Reprogramming in Mammalian Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer Embryo Development

YAN Yelian, ZHANG Mengya, LIU Qiuchen, WANG Xin, XU Changzhi, ZONG Yanfeng, ZHU Zhihua, WU Sucheng, SONG Yu, LI Yunsheng, ZHANG Yunhai, CAO Zubing   

  1. Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Local Livestock and Poultry, Genetical Resource Conservation and Breeding, College of Animal Science and Technology, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China
  • Received:2022-02-09 Online:2022-06-05 Published:2022-05-27

Abstract: Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is a reproductive biotechnology that can reprogram differentiated somatic cells into totipotent embryos.It has a wide range of application prospects in the propagation of excellent breeding livestock, protection of endangered species and therapeutic cloning, However, the extremely low cloning efficiency, abnormal placenta of cloned animals and fetal malformation after birth seriously limit the practical application of this technology.The low cloning efficiency and abnormal embryonic development are mainly due to errors or incomplete reprogramming of donor nuclear epigenetics.In 1958, the first SCNT animal individual was obtained by transferring the intestinal nucleus of Xenopus laevis larvae into enucleated oocytes;In 1986, three surviving lambs were successfully obtained by electrofusion of a blastomere and enucleated oocytes;In 1997, the mammary epithelial cells of adult ewes were fused with enucleated egg cells to obtain the first SCNT mammal "Dolly", which opened the era of cloning.At present, cattle, mice, goats, pigs, European argali, rabbits, domestic cats, horses, rats, mules, dogs, ferrets, wolves, buffalo, red deer, humped camels, cynomolgus monkeys have been successfully cloned one after another.One of the most remarkable is the successful cloning of cynomolgus monkeys in 2018.By comparing the development of SCNT embryos with that of fertilized embryos, the author expounds the reprogramming process and defects of DNA methylation, histone modification, genomic imprinting and chromosome status in the process of SCNT.The effects of eliminating epigenetic reprogramming barriers, alone or in combination, on cloning efficiency are discussed in terms of epigenetic regulators, histone lysine demethylases, inhibition of Xist expression, supplementation of protamine and sperm RNA.With the development and improvement of low-sample-size sequencing technology, more detailed genome-wide epigenetic modification maps can be detected in SCNT embryos, further revealing defects in epigenetic reprogramming of SCNT embryos, and providing opportunities for improving cloning efficiency.Through the elaboration of the above content, hoping to provide strategies and ideas for the subsequent development of joint methods to eliminate multiple epigenetic barriers and improve cloning efficiency.

Key words: somatic cell nuclear transfer; epigenetic reprogramming; cloning efficiency

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