PCI-24781 can improve in vitro and in vivo developmental capacity of pig somatic cell nuclear transfer embryos

• DOI: 10.1007/s10529-016-2141-0
• Publication Date: 2016-06-06T04:42:36Z
• Authors: Long Jin; Hai-Ying Zhu; Qing Guo; Xiao-Chen Li; Yu-Chen Zhang; Guang-Lei Zhang; Xiao-Xu Xing; Mei-Fu Xuan; Qi-Rong Luo; Xi-Jun Yin; Jin-Dan Kang
• Keywords: Reprogramming

To examine the effect of PCI-24781 (abexinostat) on the blastocyst formation rate in pig somatic cell nuclear transferred (SCNT) embryos and acetylation levels of the histone H3 lysine 9 and histone H4 lysine 12.Treatment with 0.5 nM PCI-24781 for 6 h significantly improved the development of cloned embryos, in comparison to the control group (25.3 vs. 10.5 %, P < 0.05). Furthermore, PCI-24781 treatment led to elevated acetylation of H3K9 and H4K12. TUNEL assay and Hoechst 33342 staining revealed that the percentage of apoptotic cells in blastocysts was significantly lower in PCI-24781-treated SCNT embryos than in untreated embryos. Also, PCI-24781-treated embryos were transferred into three surrogate sows, one of whom became pregnant and two fetuses developed.PCI-24781 improves nuclear reprogramming and the developmental potential of pig SCNT embryos.