Many of the developmental anomalies observed in cloned animals are related to foetal and placental overgrowth, a phenomenon known as the 'large offspring syndrome' (LOS) in ruminants. It has been hypothesized that the epigenetic control of imprinted genes, that is, genes that are expressed in a parental-specific manner, is at the root of LOS. Our recent research has focused on understanding epigenetic alterations to imprinted genes that are associated with assisted reproductive technologies (ART), such as early embryo in vitro culture (IVC) and somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) in cattle. We have sought and identified single nucleotide polymorphisms in Bos indicus DNA useful for the analysis of parental-specific alleles and their respective transcripts in tissues from hybrid embryos derived by crossing Bos indicus and Bos taurus cattle. By analysing differentially methylated regions (DMRs) of imprinted genes SNRPN, H19 and the IGF2R in cattle, we demonstrated that there is a generalized hypomethylation of the imprinted allele and the biallelic expression of embryos produced by SCNT when compared to the methylation patterns observed in vivo (artificially inseminated). Together, these results indicate that imprinting marks are erased during the reprogramming of the somatic cell nucleus during early development, indicating that such epigenetic anomalies may play a key role in mortality and morbidity of cloned animals.

Our fascination for mitochondria relates to their origin as symbiotic, semi-independent organisms on which we, as eukaryotic beings, rely nearly exclusively to produce energy for every cell function. Therefore, it is not surprising that these organelles play an essential role in many events during early development and in artificial reproductive technologies (ARTs) applied to humans and domestic animals. However, much needs to be learned about the interactions between the nucleus and the mitochondrial genome (mtDNA), particularly with respect to the control of transcription, replication and segregation during preimplantation. Nuclear-encoded factors that control transcription and replication are expressed during preimplantation development in mice and are followed by mtDNA transcription, but these result in no change in mtDNA copy number. However, in cattle, mtDNA copy number increases during blastocyst expansion and hatching. Nuclear genes influence the mtDNA segregation patterns in heteroplasmic animals. Because many ARTs markedly modify the mtDNA content in embryos, it is essential that their application is preceded by careful experimental scrutiny, using suitable animal models.

Although cloning of mammals has been achieved successfully, the percentage of live offspring is very low because of reduced fetal size and fewer implantation sites. Recent studies have attributed such pathological conditions to abnormal reprogramming of the donor cell used for cloning. The inability of the oocyte to fully restore the differentiated status of a somatic cell to its pluripotent and undifferentiated state is normally evidenced by aberrant DNA methylation patterns established throughout the genome during development to blastocyst. These aberrant methylation patterns are associated with abnormal expression of imprinted genes, which among other genes are essential for normal embryo development and gestation. We hypothesized that embryo loss and low implantation rates in cattle derived by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) are caused by abnormal epigenetic reprogramming of imprinted genes. To verify our hypothesis, we analyzed the parental expression and the differentially methylated domain (DMD) methylation status of the H19 gene. Using a parental-specific analysis, we confirmed for the first time that H19 biallelic expression is tightly associated with a severe demethylation of the paternal H19 DMD in SCNT embryos, suggesting that these epigenetic anomalies to the H19 locus could be directly responsible for the reduced size and low implantation rates of cloned embryos in cattle.

Pluripotency reacquisition of somatic cells has been achieved through nuclear transfer (NT) to oocytes and, more recently, through induction with pluripotency-related factors (iPS cells). However, the epigenetic reprogramming process that enables the derivation of both NT-derived cloned animals and iPS cells is usually incomplete, leading to unhealthy offspring and poorly reprogrammed iPS cell lines. These unfavourable outcomes result in part from abnormal genome DNA methylation that leads to aberrant gene expression patterns. For instance, differentially methylated regions (DMR) and monoalleleic expression of imprinted genes, essential for normal cellular commitment and early development, are thought to be severely disturbed by reprogramming techniques. Indeed, H19 and SNRPN, imprinted genes, were disturbed in bovine NT-derived embryos and fetuses. Herein we investigated whether the DMR and parent-of-origin expression of the imprinted genes H19 and SNRPN are also perturbed in iPS lines. To analyse the DMR methylation patterns and allelic expression of H19 and SNRPN using parental-specific polymorphisms, we derived multiple clones of bovine iPS (biPS) cells from an interspecies (Bos indicus × Bos taurus) fetal fibroblast (bFF) using transduction with a policystronic lentivirus containing mouse Oct4, Sox2 c-Myc, and Klf-4 transcription factors. The DNA methylation patterns were evaluated by bisulfite sequencing and allelic expression by designing allele-specific PCR probes. We also quantified transcript expression by RT-PCR of H19, IGF2, SNRPN, OCT4, and NANOG by normalization with 3 housekeeping genes (GAPDH, NAT1, and ACTB). The biPS lines were characterised by a high nuclear : cytoplasmic ratio, dome-shaped colonies, positive AP activity, embryoid body formation, in vitro and in vivo (teratoma) formation, and expression of pluripotency-related genes. Compared to the bFF cells, methylation analyses of H19 showed partial hypomethylation of the paternal DMR on 1 iPS cell line and partial demethylation of the CTCF-binding region in the DMR of 2 other biPS lines, indicating abnormal demethylation of 3 out of the 4 biPS lines analysed. Methylation analyses of SNRPN revealed a partial hypomethylation in the maternal DMR and partial hypermethylation of the paternal DMR in 2 iPS lines. Gene expression analyses revealed the biallelic expression of H19 and decreased global expression of both H19 and IGF2, as well as the exclusively monoallelic paternal expression and significant increase in global expression of SNRPN. Interestingly, although OCT4 was substantially overexpressed in biPS lines, we identified a hypermethylation of the CG-rich region of the OCT4 exon 1. Endogenous NANOG expression was observed in 2 biPS clones. We conclude that imprinting errors are observed in biPS clones, suggesting that these epigenetic anomalies are related to the reprogramming process and could be directly responsible for the variable phenotypes and low success rates of both cloning and iPS derivation procedures.Financial support was from NSERC, FAPESP (13/13686-8, 11/08376-4, 57877-3/2008, 08.135-2/2013), CNPq (573754/2008-0, 482163/2013-5).

Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is a relatively new treatment for human male-related infertility (1992) and for the production of transgenic animals (1995). However, ICSI bypasses many natural biological processes such as sperm maturation, interaction within the female genital tract, sperm capacitation, interaction with oocyte vestments, and sperm membrane fusion with the oocyte. With the widespread use of this technology, its potential adverse outcomes need to be ascertained. It is theoretically possible that ICSI may cause specific problems through injury to the sperm or egg or injection of damaged or defective sperm. Here, we determined if ICSI has a long-term effect on mouse growth, behavior, and health. Female CD1 mice were superovulated and oocytes were injected with frozen-thawed spermatozoa (without cryoprotector or chelating agent) obtained from CD1 mice epididymes (Moreira et al. 2004 Biol. Reprod. 71, in press). Embryos were cultured 24 h in KSOM, and 2-cell embryos were transferred into CD1 females. Fifty-six mice (36 males and 20 females) produced by ICSI and 41 control mice (18 males and 23 females) obtained from in vivo-fertilized mice were analyzed. On week 20, animals were submitted to the following behavior tests: locomotor activity (open field), exploratory/anxiety behavior (elevated plus maze, open field), and spatial memory (free-choice exploration paradigm in Y maze). Comparison between groups was made using analysis of variance followed by least significant difference post hoc test. Postnatal weight gain of female mice produced by ICSI was heavier than for their control counterparts from 10 weeks on (P < 0.01). Males produced by ICSI showed more anxiety and lower locomotion in the p-maze and the Y-maze tests (P < 0.05), but no significant differences were found in the open-field test. Also, no differences were found in spatial memory or in the habituation pattern. Anatomopathological analysis of animals at 16 months of age showed some large organs (heart, lung, and liver; P < 0.01) and an increase in pathologies (15% of animals produced by ICSI presented some solid tumors in lung, dermis of back, or neck). Loss of imprinting is one of the most common epigenetic changes associated with the development of a wide variety of tumours. An association between some imprinting disorders, rare tumors, and ICSI has recently been reported in humans (Wittermer et al. 2004 Med. Sci. 20, 352). We are now analyzing the epigenetic modifications that may be induced by our ICSI protocol and whether the sperm DNA fragmentation that may take place during sperm freezing before the ICSI procedure might not only affect postnatal development, growth, and physiology, but also increase the risk of tumors in adult animals. Our data suggest that our ICSI method produces mice with sex-dimorphic alterations in aberrant growth and anxiety, as well as with a higher probability of developing a solid tumor. A simple, non-invasive, rapid and sensitive oxygen microsensor system was developed to investigate correlati...