Genome-wide CpG island methylation and gene expression patterns in nuclear transfer donor cells in relation to cloning efficiency in swine. Sus scrofa

The success of cloning by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is unpredictable due in part to abnormal patterns of epigenetic marks in the donor cell genome which regulate gene expression. Comprehensive information on donor cell epigenetic signature and gene expression remains unexplored. In this study, we sought to determine the patterns of DNA methylation and gene expression in distinct clonal populations of swine fetal fibroblast donor cells that have varying degrees of success at producing healthy cloned pigs. Such data may provide predictive value when choosing donor cell lines prior to cloning. We combined methylated DNA immunoprecipitation with high throughput sequencing (MeDIP-seq) to detect broad regions of methylated DNA in 3 male and 3 female populations of porcine donor cells.