The cloning of Dolly the sheep was a remarkable demonstration of the oocyte's ability to reprogram a specialized nucleus. However, embryos derived from such somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) very rarely result in live births—a fate that may be linked to observed epigenetic defects. A new genome-wide study shows that epigenetic reprogramming in SCNT embryos does not fully recapitulate the natural DNA demethylation events occurring at fertilization, resulting in aberrant methylation at some promoters and repetitive elements that may contribute to developmental failure.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Relevant articles
Open Access articles citing this article.
-
Insights into epigenetic patterns in mammalian early embryos
Protein & Cell Open Access 15 July 2020
-
Sperm-borne miR-449b influences cleavage, epigenetic reprogramming and apoptosis of SCNT embryos in bovine
Scientific Reports Open Access 17 October 2017
-
Transcriptome analysis reveals long intergenic non-coding RNAs involved in skeletal muscle growth and development in pig
Scientific Reports Open Access 18 August 2017
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$209.00 per year
only $17.42 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Katie Vicari
References
Hemberger, M. et al. Nat. Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. 10, 526–537 (2009).
Niemann, H. et al. Reproduction 135, 151–163 (2008).
Chan, M.M., Smith, Z.D., Egli, D., Regev, A. & Meissner, A. Nat. Genet. 44, 978–980 (2012).
Wossidlo, M. et al. EMBO J. 29, 1877–1888 (2010).
Santos, F. et al. Curr. Biol. 13, 1116–1121 (2003).
Smallwood, S.A. et al. Nat. Genet. 43, 811–814 (2011).
Smith, Z.D. et al. Nature 484, 339–344 (2012).
Okada, Y. et al. Nature 463, 554–558 (2010).
Hajkova, P. et al. Science 329, 78–82 (2010).
Wossidlo, M. et al. Nat. Commun. 2, 241 (2011).
Gu, T.P. et al. Nature 477, 606–610 (2011).
Loi, P. et al. Bioessays 30, 66–74 (2008).
Nakamura, T. et al. Nature 486, 415–419 (2012).
Farthing, C.R. et al. PLoS Genet. 4, e1000116 (2008).
Zamudio, N. & Bourc'his, D. Heredity 105, 92–104 (2010).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing financial interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Peat, J., Reik, W. Incomplete methylation reprogramming in SCNT embryos. Nat Genet 44, 965–966 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/ng.2393
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ng.2393
This article is cited by
-
Insights into epigenetic patterns in mammalian early embryos
Protein & Cell (2021)
-
Comparative analysis of bovine maternal corpus luteum microRNAs with aberrant and normal developed cloned fetus at late gestation
Genes & Genomics (2020)
-
Transcriptome analysis reveals long intergenic non-coding RNAs involved in skeletal muscle growth and development in pig
Scientific Reports (2017)
-
Sperm-borne miR-449b influences cleavage, epigenetic reprogramming and apoptosis of SCNT embryos in bovine
Scientific Reports (2017)
-
Stochastic anomaly of methylome but persistent SRY hypermethylation in disorder of sex development in canine somatic cell nuclear transfer
Scientific Reports (2016)
