ISSN:
1040-452X
Keywords:
Marker gene
;
Preimplantation embryos
;
IVF
;
Life and Medical Sciences
;
Cell & Developmental Biology
Source:
Wiley InterScience Backfile Collection 1832-2000
Topics:
Biology
Notes:
We investigated the onset of paternal gene expression in the early mouse embryo. We obtained transgenic mouse embryos by fertilizing BD (C57BL/6N x DBA) F1 hybrid female oocytes in vitro, with sperm from homozygous transgenic males carrying integrated chicken β-actin promoter-driven firefly luciferase cDNA. We then examined the RNA and protein synthesis of the luciferase gene in embryos from the 1- to 2-cell stage. RNA transcripts of the luciferase gene were first detected in the 1-cell stage embryos as early as 13 hr postinsemination, just prior to elongation. By photon-count imaging, functional luciferase was identified at the 2-cell stage 23 hr postinsemination. These findings indicate that the paternal endogenous gene is already transcribed in the late 1-cell embryos, although paternally derived protein is not synthesized until the 2-cell stage. Therefore, these results suggest that the embryonic gene is activated as early as the late 1-cell stage. ©1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Additional Material:
4 Ill.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mrd.1080390203
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