Expression of IGF2 and IGF receptor mRNA in bovine nuclear transferred embryos

Incomplete reprogramming of the donor cell nucleus after nuclear transfer (NT) probably leads to the abnormal expression of developmentally important genes. This may be responsible for the low efficiency of cloned animal production. Insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2) and IGF2 receptor (IGF2R) are imprinted genes that play important roles in preimplantation development. To obtain an insight into abnormal gene expression after nuclear transfer, we assessed the transcription patterns of IGF2-IGF2R in single in vitro fertilised and cloned embryos by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). IGF2R expression did not differ significantly but IGF2 was more highly expressed in cloned embryos than in IVF embryos (p < 0.05). This was confirmed by a quantitative RT-PCR method. Thus, incomplete reprogramming may induce abnormal transcription of IGF2 in cloned embryos.