5-hydroxymethyl-cytosine enrichment of non-committed cells is not a universal feature of vertebrate development
- Authors
- Almeida, R.D., Loose, M., Sottile, V., Matsa, E., Denning, C., Young, L., Johnson, A.D., Gering, M., and Ruzov, A.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-120316-5
- Date
- 2012
- Source
- Epigenetics 7(4): 383-389 (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Gering, Martin
- Keywords
- none
- MeSH Terms
-
- 5-Methylcytosine/metabolism
- Animals
- Blastocyst/cytology
- Blastocyst/metabolism
- Cell Differentiation
- Chick Embryo
- Culture Media, Conditioned
- Cytosine/analogs & derivatives*
- Cytosine/metabolism
- DNA Methylation
- DNA-Binding Proteins/genetics
- DNA-Binding Proteins/metabolism
- Embryo, Nonmammalian/cytology
- Embryo, Nonmammalian/metabolism
- Embryonic Development
- Embryonic Stem Cells/cytology
- Embryonic Stem Cells/metabolism
- Female
- Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental*
- Immunohistochemistry
- Male
- Mice
- Organogenesis
- Proto-Oncogene Proteins/genetics
- Proto-Oncogene Proteins/metabolism
- Time Factors
- Vertebrates/embryology*
- Vertebrates/genetics
- Vertebrates/metabolism
- Zebrafish/embryology
- Zebrafish/genetics
- Zebrafish/metabolism*
- PubMed
- 22419071 Full text @ Epigenetics
5-hydroxymethyl-cytosine (5-hmC) is a cytosine modification that is relatively abundant in mammalian pre-implantation embryos and embryonic stem cells (ESC) derived from mammalian blastocysts. Recent observations imply that both 5-hmC and Tet1/2/3 proteins, catalyzing the conversion of 5-methyl-cytosine to 5-hmC, may play an important role in self renewal and differentiation of ESCs. Here we assessed the distribution of 5-hmC in zebrafish and chick embryos and found that, unlike in mammals, 5-hmC is immunochemically undetectable in these systems before the onset of organogenesis. In addition, Tet1/2/3 transcripts are either low or undetectable at corresponding stages of zebrafish development. However, 5-hmC is enriched in later zebrafish and chick embryos and exhibits tissue-specific distribution in adult zebrafish. Our findings show that 5-hmC enrichment of non-committed cells is not a universal feature of vertebrate development and give insights both into evolution of embryonic pluripotency and the potential role of 5-hmC in its regulation.