Y‐box binding protein 1 influences zygotic genome activation by regulating N6‐methyladenosine in porcine embryos

Abstract

Y-box binding protein 1 (YBX1) is a member of the family of DNA-and RNA-binding proteins that play crucial roles in multiple aspects, including RNA stabilization, translational repression, and transcriptional regulation; however, its roles in embryo development remain less known. In this study, to investigate the function of YBX1 and its mechanism of action in porcine embryo development, YBX1 was knocked down by microinjecting YBX1 siRNA at the one-cell stage. YBX1 is located in the cytoplasm during embryonic development. The mRNA level of YBX1 was increased from the fourcell stage to the blastocyst stage but was significantly decreased in YBX1 knockdown embryos compared with the control. Moreover, the percentage of blastocysts was decreased following YBX1 knockdown compared with the control. Defecting YBX1 expression increased maternal gene mRNA expression and decreased zygotic genome activation (ZGA) gene mRNA expression and histone modification owing to decreased levels of N6-methyladenosine (m6A) writer N6-adenosine-methyltransferase 70 kDa subunit (METTL3) and reader insulin-like growth factor 2 mRNA-binding protein (IGF2BP1). In addition, IGF2BP1 knockdown showed that YBX1 regulated the ZGA process through m6A modification. In conclusion, YBX1 is essential for early embryo development because it regulates the ZGA process.

The Role of BDNF, YBX1, CENPF, ZSCAN4, TEAD4, GLIS1 and USF1 in the Activation of the Embryonic Genome in Bovine Embryos

“…However, after YBX1 gene knockdown, it affects the stability of AS and RNA, thus leading to the development defects of pre-ZGA embryos. However, the difference is that studies on pigs, sheep, mice, zebrafish, and other species have shown that the development of embryos is affected by m6A modification, while the mechanism of the effect on cattle has not been reported [68][69][70][71]. CENPF, ZSCAN4, GLIS1, TEAD4, and CDX2 all inhibited the development of early ZGA to varying degrees.…”

Knockdown of Y-box binding protein 1 induces autophagy in early porcine embryos

“…For the knockdown groups, the sequences of the small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) was the same with previous study ( Jiang et al, 2023b ). YBX1 siRNA (50 μM) was microinjected into the cytoplasm of a parthenogenetically activated oocyte via an Eppendorf Femto-Jet (Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany) and Nikon Diaphot Eclipse TE300 inverted microscope (Nikon, Tokyo, Japan) equipped with the Narishige MM0-202N hydraulic 3-dimensional micromanipulator (Narishige, Amityville, NY, United States).…”