Mechanism Of Transcription Factor Zscan21 Regulating Mouse Early Embryo Development

BackgroundAfter the sperm-egg combination in mammals,the maternal material in the embryo is gradually consumed,and the newly synthesized material of the zygote gradually increases and plays a corresponding role.This process is called maternal-zygotic transition(MTZ),which is the zygotic genome Key events during the activation(ZGA)period.It is part of the complex oocyte-embryonic transition(OET),in which a highly specialized oocyte is transformed into a fertilized egg,which in turn produces an embryo,and then develops into a newborn.Zscan21 is a protein coding gene located on chromosome 7q22.1.It is one of the maternal transcriptional regulators and has been reported to be related to sperm meiosis.During the discovery of ZGA,there have been many reports on ZGA-related genes,such as Nanog,Oct4,SoxB1 and Pou5f1.However,the overall chromatin landscape and its dynamic changes in this period still need to be further explored.ObjectiveEarly embryonic development has always been a hot issue for researchers.At present,many histones or transcription factors related to early embryonic development or zygotic genome activation have been discovered and explored and reported.This project intends to seek out transcription factors that have not been elaborated and studied from more maternal factors,with a view to discovering their role in the early embryonic development or activation of the zygotic genome,and to further explore their research mechanisms and signaling pathways for the early embryonic stage.Developmental or zygotic genome activation research provides new ideas and directions,and provides new possibilities for clinical diagnosis and treatment.ResultsThe transcript of Zscan21 is highly expressed in the two-cell stage of mice;the expression of mouse Zscan21 protein is highest in the two cell to four cell stage;Zscan21 KD can lead to embryonic development blocked at two-cell stage;Zscan21 KD could inhibit newborn RNA production;Zscan21 KD produced 3333 differentially expressed genes.Among them,2793 genes were significantly down-regulated,and 540 genes were significantly up-regulated;differentially expressed genes mainly involved 6 KEGG signal pathways:cellular processes,environmental information processing,gene expression,metabolism,organic systems,and human diseases.Differentially expressed genes are mainly involved in RNA degradation,spliceosome activity,cell cycle,metabolism,and insulin signaling pathways.ConclusionsZscan21 may play a key role in the activation of the mouse embryo’s zygotic genome.However,the specific mechanism of action and signal pathways are still unclear,and further research is needed.