Effects of Crotonylation on Reprogramming of Cashmere Goat Somatic Cells with Different Differentiation Degrees

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Currently, not enough is known about the effect of histone modification on the epigenetic reprogramming of somatic cells, and the lack of basic study limits the development of somatic cell nuclear transfer technology. The aim of this study was to explore the influence of lysine crotonylation, a newly discovered histone post-translational modification, on the reprogramming of somatic cells from Cashmere goats. The results showed that the crotonylation level was increased in somatic cells with sodium crotonate treatment. At the same time, the treatment of somatic cells improved the cloned embryo cleavage rate. In conclusion, an increasing crotonylation level could promote the reprogramming of somatic cells and cloned embryo development. This finding provides an important reference for future improvements in the efficiency of in vitro Cashmere goat somatic cell nuclear transfer embryo production. ABSTRACT: Failure in the epigenetic reprogramming of somatic cells is considered the main reason for lower cloned embryo development efficiency. Lysine crotonylation (Kcr) occupies an important position in epigenetic modification, while its effects on somatic cell reprogramming have not been reported. In this study, we detected the influence of sodium crotonate (NaCr) on the Kcr levels in three types of somatic cells (muscle-derived satellite cells, MDSCs; fetal fibroblast cells, FFCs; and ear tip fibroblast cells, EFCs). The three types of somatic cells were treated with NaCr for cloned embryo construction, and the cleavage rates and Kcr, H3K9cr, and H3K18cr levels in the cloned embryos were analyzed. The results showed that the abnormal levels of Kcr, H3K9cr, and H3K18cr were corrected in the treatment groups. Although there was no significant difference in the cloned embryo cleavage rate in the FFC treatment group, the cleavage rates of the cloned embryos in the MDSCs and EFCs treatment groups were increased. These findings demonstrated that the Kcr level was increased with NaCr treatment in somatic cells from Cashmere goat, which contributed to proper reprogramming. The reprogramming of somatic cells can be promoted and cloned embryo development can be improved through the treatment of somatic cells with NaCr.