Single-cell parallel sequencing on human oocytes reveals essential targets and cis-regulatory for oocyte development maintenance

Oocyte quality declines dramatically after the age of 35 in females. Multiple cellular and molecular mechanisms have been revealed in the oocyte development and maintenance. However, the majority studies were performed on bulk oocyte samples. On the other hand, cis-regulatory mechanisms have been reported to be critical in cell biology. In this study, we employed the novel single-cell parallel sequencing technology to successfully generate the transcriptome and methylome profiles on two human oocytes. We demonstrated the high similarity in transcriptome and methylome between two oocytes and firstly showed the global regulation of DNA methylation and gene expression in single oocyte level. More importantly, we identified the potential enhancer-promoter networks and found two novel genes, DCP1A and THE1B, critical for oocyte development maintenance, were involved in the regulation networks. These discoveries offer a novel direction to explore the mechanism of oocyte development and maintenance and make it possible to identify associated screening or therapy targets for further study and clinic treatment. Overall design: Performing single-cell parallel sequencing on two human oocytes.