Changes in Parthenogenetic Imprinting Patterns during Reprogramming by Cell Fusion

PLoS One. 2016 May 27;11(5):e0156491. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0156491. eCollection 2016.

Abstract

Differentiated somatic cells can be reprogrammed into the pluripotent state by cell-cell fusion. In the pluripotent state, reprogrammed cells may then self-renew and differentiate into all three germ layers. Fusion-induced reprogramming also epigenetically modifies the somatic cell genome through DNA demethylation, X chromosome reactivation, and histone modification. In this study, we investigated whether fusion with embryonic stem cells (ESCs) also reprograms genomic imprinting patterns in somatic cells. In particular, we examined imprinting changes in parthenogenetic neural stem cells fused with biparental ESCs, as well as in biparental neural stem cells fused with parthenogenetic ESCs. The resulting hybrid cells expressed the pluripotency markers Oct4 and Nanog. In addition, methylation of several imprinted genes except Peg3 was comparable between hybrid cells and ESCs. This finding indicates that reprogramming by cell fusion does not necessarily reverse the status of all imprinted genes to the state of pluripotent fusion partner.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cell Fusion
  • Cellular Reprogramming*
  • DNA Methylation
  • Embryonic Stem Cells / cytology
  • Embryonic Stem Cells / metabolism
  • Hybrid Cells / cytology
  • Mice
  • Parthenogenesis*

Grants and funding

This research was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (grant no. 2015R1A5A1009701); and the Next-Generation BioGreen 21 Program (grant no. PJ01133802) funded by the Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea.