TGFalpha reactivates imprinted Igf2 in the parthenogenetic mice embryos and placenta

Imprinted genes play important roles in the mammalian development. In the parthenogenetic embryos (PE) there is only expression of maternally expressed genes. Therefore, PEs are appropriate experimental models to study genomic imprinting controlling mechanisms. The maternally expressed H19 and paternally expressed Igf2 are reciprocally imprinted genes in normal embryos. Here we studied effect of transforming growth factor alpha (TGFalpha) treatment in vitro (10 ng/ml at the morula stage) on the expression of Igf2/H19 locus in mice PE (9.5-days of gestation, 25 somites) and their placentas (PP). Using RT-PCR we showed that TGFalpha reactivated maternally imprinted Igf2 gene in parthenogenetic embryos and placentas. In spite of similar Tgfalpha expression in the pre-implantation stages, its expression in the 9.5-day parthenogenetic embryos is significantly less than in normal embryos (NE). In our experiments it was shown that reactivation of Igf2 gene occurred independently of H19 gene. In vitro TGFalpha treatment of mouse PE reactivated paternally expressed Igf2 gene in the PE and PP. In the PE and PP both Igf2 and H19 were expressed. It seems that TGFalpha can play an important role as modulator of the Igf2/H19 locus.