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Background: We previously demonstrated embryotrophic actions of maternal (oocyte-derived) follistatin during bovine early embryogenesis. Classical actions of follistatin are attributed to inhibition of activity of growth factors including activins and bone morphogenetic proteins (BMP). However, temporal changes in BMP mRNA in early bovine embryos and the effects of exogenous BMP on embryo developmental progression are not understood. The objectives of present studies were to characterize mRNA abundance for select BMP, BMP receptors and BMP receptor associated SMADs during bovine oocyte maturation and early embryogenesis and determine effects of addition of exogenous BMP protein on early development., Methods: Relative abundance of mRNA for BMP2, BMP3, BMP7, BMP10, SMAD1, SMAD5, ALK3, ALK6, ALK2, BMPR2, ACVR2A and ACVR2B was determined by RT-qPCR analysis of germinal vesicle (GV) and in vitro matured metaphase II (MII) oocytes and in vitro produced embryos collected at pronuclear, 2-cell (C), 4C, 8C, 16C, morula and blastocyst stages. Effects of addition of recombinant human BMP2 (0, 1, 10 and 100 ng/ml) during initial 72 h of embryo culture on early cleavage (within 30 h post insemination), total cleavage, development to 8C-16C and blastocyst stages and blastocyst mRNA abundance for markers of inner cell mass (NANOG) and trophectoderm (CDX2) were also determined., Results: Abundance of mRNA for BMP2, BMP10, SMAD1, SMAD5, ALK3, ALK2, BMPR2 and ACVR2B was elevated in MII oocytes and/or pronuclear stage embryos (relative to GV) and remained elevated through the 8C -16C stages, whereas BMP3, BMP7 and ALK2 mRNAs were transiently elevated. Culture of embryos to the 8C stage in the presence of α-amanitin resulted in increased abundance for all of above transcripts examined relative to untreated 8C embryos. Effects of addition of exogenous BMP2 on early cleavage rates and rates of development to 8C-16C and blastocyst stages were not observed, but BMP2 treatment increased blastocyst mRNA for CDX2 and NANOG., Conclusions: Abundance of maternally derived mRNAs for above BMP system components are dynamically regulated during oocyte maturation and early embryogenesis. Exogenous BMP2 treatment does not influence progression to various developmental endpoints, but impacts characteristics of resulting blastocysts. Results support a potential role for BMPs in bovine early embryogenesis.

Background: Without intensive selection, the majority of bovine oocytes submitted to in vitro embryo production (IVP) fail to develop to the blastocyst stage. This is attributed partly to their maturation status and competences. Using the Affymetrix GeneChip Bovine Genome Array, global mRNA expression analysis of immature (GV) and in vitro matured (IVM) bovine oocytes was carried out to characterize the transcriptome of bovine oocytes and then use a variety of approaches to determine whether the observed transcriptional changes during IVM was real or an artifact of the techniques used during analysis., Results: 8489 transcripts were detected across the two oocyte groups, of which ~25.0% (2117 transcripts) were differentially expressed (p < 0.001); corresponding to 589 over-expressed and 1528 under-expressed transcripts in the IVM oocytes compared to their immature counterparts. Over expression of transcripts by IVM oocytes is particularly interesting, therefore, a variety of approaches were employed to determine whether the observed transcriptional changes during IVM were real or an artifact of the techniques used during analysis, including the analysis of transcript abundance in oocytes in vitro matured in the presence of α-amanitin. Subsets of the differentially expressed genes were also validated by quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) and the gene expression data was classified according to gene ontology and pathway enrichment. Numerous cell cycle linked (CDC2, CDK5, CDK8, HSPA2, MAPK14, TXNL4B), molecular transport (STX5, STX17, SEC22A, SEC22B), and differentiation (NACA) related genes were found to be among the several over-expressed transcripts in GV oocytes compared to the matured counterparts, while ANXA1, PLAU, STC1and LUM were among the over-expressed genes after oocyte maturation., Conclusion: Using sequential experiments, we have shown and confirmed transcriptional changes during oocyte maturation. This dataset provides a unique reference resource for studies concerned with the molecular mechanisms controlling oocyte meiotic maturation in cattle, addresses the existing conflicting issue of transcription during meiotic maturation and contributes to the global goal of improving assisted reproductive technology.

Background: Mutation of a tumor suppressor allele leaves the second as backup. Not necessarily so with p53. This homo-tetrameric transcription factor can become contaminated with mutant p53 through hetero-tetramerization. In addition, it can be out-competed by the binding to p53 DNA recognition motifs of transactivation-incompetent isoforms (DeltaN and DeltaTA-isoforms) of the p53/p63/p73 family of proteins. Countermeasures against such dominant-negative or dominant-inhibitory action might include the evolutionary gain of novel, transactivation-independent tumor suppressor functions by the wild-type monomer., Results: Here we have studied, mostly in human HCT116 colon adenocarcinoma cells with an intact p53 pathway, the effects of dominant-inhibitory p53 mutants and of Deltaex2/3p73, a tumor-associated DeltaTA-competitor of wild-type p53, on the nuclear transactivation-dependent and extra-nuclear transactivation-independent functions of wild-type p53. We report that mutant p53 and Deltaex2/3p73, expressed from a single gene copy per cell, interfere with the stress-induced expression of p53-responsive genes but leave the extra-nuclear apoptosis by mitochondrial p53 largely unaffected, although both wild-type and mutant p53 associate with the mitochondria. In accord with these observations, we present evidence that in contrast to nuclear p53 the vast majority of mitochondrial p53, be it wild-type or mutant, is consisting of monomeric protein., Conclusion: The extra-nuclear p53-dependent apoptosis may constitute a fail-safe mechanism against dominant inhibition.