Aberrant DNA methylation patterns in cultured mouse embryos

Mouse early embryos undergo genome-wide demethylation and remethylation events during pre-implantation development. Abnormal methylation reprogramming is thought to be associated with development arrest. Using immunofluorescence staining with an antibody against 5-methylcytosine (MeC), we examined the genome methylation patterns of mouse embryos cultured in vitro. The results did not show the difference in staining patterns between development-blocked two-cell embryos that cultured in vitro and the two-cell embryos that were freshly collected from the donor mice. But in vitro-arrested morulae displayed a strong positive staining when compared to the morulae freshly collected from the donor mice. At the blastocyst stage, although most embryos showed the expected methylation patterns, with highly stained inner cell mass (ICM) and weekly stained trophectoderm (TE), a proportion of embryos were dimly stained in both ICM and TE. These results indicated that the methylation profile of the embryos could be changed by culturing in vitro when the embryos were in the transition from morulae to blastocyst.

Aberrant DNA methylation patterns in cultured mouse embryos

Mouse early embryos undergo genome-wide demethylation and remethylation events during pre-implantation development. Abnormal methylation reprogramming is thought to be associated with development arrest. Using immunofiuorescence staining with an antibody against 5-methylcytosine (MeC), we examined the genome methylation patterns of mouse embryos cultured in vitro. The results did not show the difference in staining patterns between development-blocked two-cell embryos that cultured in vitro and the two-cell embryos that were freshly collected from the donor mice. But in vitro-arrested morulae displayed a strong positive staining when compared to the morulae freshly collected from the donor mice. At the blastocyst stage, although most embryos showed the expected methylation patterns, with highly stained inner cell mass (ICM) and weekly stained trophectoderm (TE), a proportion of embryos were dimly stained in both ICM and TE. These results indicated that the methylation profile of the embryos could be changed by culturing in vitro when the embryos were in the transition from morulae to blastocyst.