Dnmt3l-knockout donor cells improve somatic cell nuclear transfer reprogramming efficiency
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Updated: Apr 7, 2026

Transnuclear Mice with Pre-defined T Cell Receptor Specificities Against Toxoplasma gondii Obtained Via SCNT
Published on: September 30, 2010
Hung-Fu Liao1, Chu-Fan Mo1, Shinn-Chih Wu1
1Institute of BiotechnologyDepartment of Animal Science and TechnologyGenome and Systems Biology Degree ProgramNational Taiwan University, Taipei 106, TaiwanGenome and Systems Biology Degree ProgramAcademia Sinica, Taipei, TaiwanInstitut CurieCNRS UMR3244, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 75248 Paris Cedex 05, FranceDepartment of Animal Science and BiotechnologyTunghai University, Taichung 407, TaiwanINSERM U934/CNRS UMR3215Institut Curie, 75005 Paris, FranceDepartment of Genetics and DevelopmentCollege of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University, New York, New York 10032, USAAgricultural Biotechnology Research CenterAcademia Sinica, Taipei 115, TaiwanCenter for Systems BiologyResearch Center for Developmental Biology and Regenerative MedicineNational Taiwan University, Taipei 106, Taiwan.
Abstract:
Nuclear transfer (NT) is a technique used to investigate the development and reprogramming potential of a single cell. DNA methyltransferase-3-like, which has been characterized as a repressive transcriptional regulator, is expressed in naturally fertilized egg and morula/blastocyst at pre-implantation stages. In this study, we demonstrate that the use of Dnmt3l-knockout (Dnmt3l-KO) donor cells in combination with Trichostatin A treatment improved the developmental efficiency and quality of the cloned embryos. Compared with the WT group, Dnmt3l-KO donor cell-derived cloned embryos exhibited increased cell numbers as well as restricted OCT4 expression in the inner cell mass (ICM) and silencing of transposable elements at the blastocyst stage. In addition, our results indicate that zygotic Dnmt3l is dispensable for cloned embryo development at pre-implantation stages. In Dnmt3l-KO mouse embryonic fibroblasts, we observed reduced nuclear localization of HDAC1, increased levels of the active histone mark H3K27ac and decreased accumulation of the repressive histone marks H3K27me3 and H3K9me3, suggesting that Dnmt3l-KO donor cells may offer a more permissive epigenetic state that is beneficial for NT reprogramming.
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