1 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and 2 The Animal Center, National Taiwan University Hospital and College of Medicine, No. 7 Chung-Shan South Road, Taipei, Taiwan
3 To whom correspondence should be addressed. e-mail: ysyang{at}ha.mc.ntu.edu.tw
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Abstract |
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Key words: chromosomes/haploidization/microtubular spindle/nuclear transfer
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Introduction |
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Using a confocal microscope, Lacham-Kaplan et al. (2001) analysed seven mouse oocytes activated with cumulus cells and showed separation of cumulus cell chromosomes into two sets. One of these sets extruded into a pseudo-second polar body. They transferred 20 semi-cloned embryos to foster females; however, none of them developed to live pups. The process of haploidization, accuracy of chromosomal segregation and developmental potential of the resulting embryos needs further investigation.
Microtubules are crucial for the events following activation of oocytes, i.e. completion of meiosis and second polar body formation (Schatten et al., 1985). Defects in meiotic spindle formation may be one of the reasons for failure of normal chromosomal division and termination of subsequent development. In this study, we used a mouse model to evaluate changes of the microtubular spindle and chromosomes of somatic cell nuclei after injection into non-enucleated mature oocytes. The relationship between the timing of activation and activation outcome was investigated. Cytogenetic analysis of the resulting embryos was performed. We explored the development of semi-cloned embryos in vitro and their pregnancy potential in vivo.
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Materials and methods |
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Preparation of cumulus cells
Cumulus cells were washed in CZB medium using centrifugation at 300 g for 5 min, and the pellet was kept and suspended in 0.1 ml of medium. A 1 µl aliquot of cell suspension was mixed with 3 µl of 12% polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP; mol. wt 360 000, Sigma) in HEPES-buffered CZB medium. One droplet (4 µl) of cellPVP suspension and four droplets (4 µl in each) of HEPES-buffered CZB medium were put on a dish and covered with oil. Cumulus cells from one mouse were used for injection of oocytes from another mouse.
Injection of cumulus cells into oocytes
Microinjection was performed with the aid of two hydraulic micromanipulators (Narishige, Tokyo, Japan) and microsyringes (IM-6; Narishige) mounted on an inverted microscope (Olympus, Tokyo, Japan) equipped with Hoffman modulation optics. The needle holder for injection was attached to a piezo electric actuator that was driven by a controller (Prime Tech Ltd, Ibaraki, Japan). The procedures of microinjection are demonstrated in Figure 1AD. Because mouse oocytes were vulnerable to injection at 37°C, we performed this procedure at room temperature (Wakayama et al., 1998). This condition might cause depolymerization of the spindle and segregation of chromosomes. To reduce these effects, we usually injected five oocytes at a time, which took
5 min. The cumulus cells were injected one by one into oocytes with minimal accompanying medium. During the same period, control oocytes were also placed on the dish. They were then transferred back to CZB culture medium.
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Fluorescence was observed using an Optiphot microscope with a magnification of 400x (Nikon, Tokyo, Japan). A Nikon UV-2A filter for the wavelength of 330380 nm was used to search for the Hoechst 33258 blue fluorescence of chromosomes. A filter of set B-2A for the wavelength of 450490 nm was employed for the FITC green signal of the spindle. The microscope was equipped with a digital imaging camera, and pictures were acquired and images processed as described (Chen et al., 2000).
Activation of oocytes with Sr2+
In the second experiment, oocytes were activated immediately, and at 30 min, 1 h or 2 h after injection using Ca2+- and Mg2+-free CZB medium containing 10 mM Sr2+ (Sigma) for 6 h. Some mature oocytes without injection were exposed to the above medium with 5 µg/ ml cytochalasin B (Sigma) as parthenogenetic controls. After activation, they were washed and transferred to CZB medium.
Definition of normal activation
The presence of two pronuclei with a second polar body and a pseudo-second polar body in oocytes was defined as normal activation (Figure 2A and B). Those with one or three pronuclei as well as two pronuclei with one second polar body were thought to be abnormal (Figure 2C and D). For the parthenogenetic control specimens, the oocytes with two pronuclei without extrusion of the second polar body were selected for further culture.
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Transfer to pseudopregnant female mice
In the third experiment, oocytes were activated at 2 h after injection. Embryos at the 2-cell stage from normally activated oocytes were transferred to oviducts of ICR females which had been mated with vasectomized ICR males 1 day previously. Recipient females were Caesarean sectioned on the 20th day post-coitum and their uteri were examined for implantation sites or fetuses.
Cytogenetic analysis of embryos
For the fourth experiment, some normally activated oocytes were incubated in CZB medium with 1 µg/ml colchicine (Sigma) for 1314 h to enforce arrest at the metaphase of the first mitotic division. The zona pellucida was then removed using acidic Tyrodes solution (Sigma). The oocytes were then transferred to the hypotonic solution for 30 min. Each oocyte was fixed on a slide according to the method described above. Some zygotes from natural conception or parthenogenesis were treated as described for controls. Chromosome numbers were counted after the Wrights stain using the microscope with a magnification of 1000x.
Micronuclei assessment
Some of the normally activated oocytes were cultured in CZB medium to the 2-cell stage, and then transferred to medium containing Hoechst 33258 (20 µg/ml) for 1 h. They were mounted between a glass slide and a coverslip supported by four dots of a vaseline:paraffin (9:1) mixture (Kamiguchi et al., 1991). They were observed for the presence or absence of micronuclei under the fluorescent microscope, according to the criteria suggested by Tienko-Holland et al. (1998
), i.e. (i) micronuclei were counted only if they were one-third or less the diameter of the main nucleus; (ii) fluorescence of micronuclei was similar to that of the main nucleus; and (iii) micronuclei were clearly separated from the main nucleus. Some 2-cell embryos from natural conception or parthenogenesis were examined as the control specimens.
Statistics
The presence of premature chromosome condensation (PCC) and spindle formation, induced by injection of cumulus cell nuclei into oocytes, was examined at various times after injection. The percentages of normal activation, cleavage and blastocyst formation were calculated for injected oocytes with activation and parthenogenetic controls. The rates of normal chromosome number were calculated for embryos obtained by injection of cumulus cell nuclei, natural conception and parthenogenesis. A contingency table analysis was performed with several rows and columns for overall difference. If it was significant, a 2 test or Fishers exact test was then carried out for comparisons of groups two by two. The number of nuclei of blastocysts among various groups was compared using a one-way analysis of variance. The between-group differences were evaluated with the Student t-test. A P-value <0.05 was considered significantly different.
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Results |
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For the fourth experiment, 467 oocytes were injected and activated after 2 h of incubation. A total of 280 normal zygotes were attained. One hundred and seventy-two were examined for chromosomes at the metaphase of first mitosis. One hundred and fifty zygotes from natural conception and 179 from parthenogenesis were used as the control specimens. Among the embryos examined, 112 (65%), 105 (70%) and 118 (66%) of each group were analysed successfully (Table III). The percentage of semi-cloned embryos with a normal number of chromosomes was significantly lower than for embryos from natural conception and parthenogenesis (Table III, Figure 4AC). There were no distinct differences between the latter two groups. Chromosome breakage (Figure 4D) was found in 10% of semi-cloned embryos, but the breakage was not detected in embryos from natural conception or parthenogenesis.
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Discussion |
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The percentages of normal activation for injection of cumulus cells into mature oocytes increased with the incubation period before activation. Immediately after injection, the cumulus cell nuclei were at interphase and there was no spindle formation. Activation in this situation failed to induce haploidization of somatic cell nuclei. The percentages of PCC with a spindle of cumulus cell nuclei and normal activation were significantly greater for injected oocytes with 1 h of incubation than those with 30 min of incubation. The percentages were not different between those activated 1 and 2 h after incubation. However, the prematurely condensed chromosomes with a spindle derived by injected cumulus cell nuclei exhibited a chaotic array. The gross morphology of normal activation for these oocytes was not equal to normal complements of chromosomes.
In studies using meiotic cells, Sasagawa et al. (1998) injected mouse primary spermatocytes into mature oocytes, and verified that the ooplasm had the ability to separate the bivalent homologous chromosomes of primary spermatocytes and the sister chromatids of oocytes simultaneously. The reduction of chromosome number in meiosis was thought to be determined by properties built into the chromosomes (Paliulis and Nicklas, 2000
). Kimura and Yanagimachi (1995
) introduced mouse secondary spermatocytes into mature oocytes, and the derived embryos resulted in a pregnancy rate of 24% (28/128). The imprinting of male gametes was accomplished in advance of the second meiotic division (Shamanski et al., 1999
).
We examined the chromosomes of semi-cloned embryos before the first mitotic division that reflected the status after haploidization of somatic cell nuclei and the second meiosis of oocytes. Judging from the numerical data alone, the incidence of chromosomal aberrations was high. As FISH analysis was not used to study the chromosome pairs, it is possible that not a single case of haploidization was successful.
In normal meiosis I of mammals, replicated homologous chromosomes physically attach by chiasmata at sites of chromatin exchange and segregate from each other to the two opposite spindle poles (Hodges et al., 2002; Eichenlaub-Ritter, 2003
). In meiosis II, the sister chromatids stay affixed at their centromeres until anaphase II. This mediates orientation of kinetochores to the two opposite spindle poles and ensures high fidelity of chromosome segregation at the second meiosis (Sandalinas et al., 2002
). In contrast, the injected G0/G1 diploid somatic cell consisted of two sets of physically unattached chromosomes. There was no pairing, recombination or cohesion of centromeres that were essential for correct reduction segregation between the homologous chromosomes (Paliulis and Nicklas, 2000
). PCC of somatic cell nuclei randomly attached to spindle fibres and a spindle pole, and might move to a pole irrespective of the other parental copy. Therefore, the likelihood of correct haploidization is expected to be very small. Our result is consistent with that reported by Fulka et al. (2002
) using somatic cell nucleus transfer into immature oocytes.
In this study, some chromosome breakage and micronucleation were observed for embryos derived from artificial haploidization of somatic cell nuclei in non-enucleated mature oocytes. Micronuclei of blastomeres may represent chromosome fragments or chromosomes that were not incorporated into daughter nuclei during mitosis (Kamiguchi et al., 1991; Milosevic-Dordevic et al., 2003
; Norppa and Falck, 2003
). Chromosome breakage was also reported for the reduction division of primary spermatocyte nuclei in the non-enucleated mature oocytes (Kimura et al., 1998
) and of the cumulus cell nuclei in enucleated immature oocytes (Palermo et al., 2002
). The mechanisms were unclear, but may be due to injection of S-phase cells. Although a majority of cumulus cells surrounding recently ovulated oocytes were in G0/G1 phase of the cell cycle, some cells of S phase or G2/M phase might exist (Schuetz et al., 1996
). If the injected nucleus was in the S phase and was driven into premature M phase by the MPF of oocytes, it could result in broken chromosomes after reduction segregation (Alberts et al., 2002
). This catastrophe is precluded in normal cell cycles by a DNA replication checkpoint mechanism, which ensures that the initiation of M phase could not occur until the completion of S phase. Another reason for chromosome breakage may be severe anaphase lagging (Norppa and Falck, 2003
).
Recently, Tateno et al. (2003a) injected mouse cumulus cells into enucleated mature oocytes. After activation as well as extrusion of the pseudo-polar body, they found that the percentage of chromosomes with the expected outcome of a haploid set of 20 was only 8.9% (15/168). Furthermore, none had a normal complement of chromosomes on karyotyping in the model of hamster cumulus cell injection (0/128). In contrast, some FISH analyses of pseudo-polar bodies from cumulus cell nuclei haploidization in mature human oocytes revealed normal haploid chromatids (Tesarik et al., 2001
). This discrepancy may be due to limited information of FISH and the small number of cases in the latter study.
In early embryos of mammals, with the exception of rodents, the formation of the mitotic spindle is related to the sperm-derived centrosome (Rawe et al., 2002). For the semi-cloned embryos, the role of an introduced centriolar microtubule-organizing centre of somatic cells in the subsequent mitotic divisions regarding chromosome segregation at anaphase and ploidy of the daughter cells deserves further investigation (Tesarik, 2002
).
Development of semi-cloned embryos was poor in vitro, and no procreation of pups occurred after transfer of 324 embryos in our study. One of the causes was the serious chromosome abnormalities. Correct imprinting during gametogenesis and epigenetic reprogramming during the the preimplantation period are essential for normal developmental potential. They involve DNA methylation, modification of histones, and chromatin remodelling that regulates gene expression of early embryos, cell cleavage and cell determination (De Rycke et al., 2002). The epigenetic status of the donor nucleus is different from that of the gametes. Therefore, the other major determinant of success would hinge on the degree of epigenetic modification of somatic DNA in the cytoplasm of oocytes (Wakayama et al., 1998
). In conventional cloning, reprogramming led to low efficiency and high rates of embryonic arrest, fetal death and anomalies (Humpherys et al., 2001
). For the semi-cloning, embryonic nuclei were constructed by the genomes of oocytes and somatic cells. The reprogramming of somatic cell nuclei in non-enucleated oocytes deserves further study.
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Acknowledgements |
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Submitted on November 7, 2003; accepted on January 8, 2004.