Transcriptome analysis of high glucose loaded mouse embryo at 2-cell stage treated with ZGW

Purpose: Zuo-Gui-Wan (ZGW) is a classic formula in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Previous studies have shown that it is not only beneficial for Impaired Glucose Tolerance (IGT) of adults but also the offspring. This study is in order to understand the molecular mechanisms of the efficacy of ZGW on IGT. Methods: We used high glucose loaded 2-cell stage mouse embryos as a model, and took advantage of single-cell RNA sequencing technology to analyze the transcriptome of the model with or without ZGW. Results and Conclusions: Results showed that high glucose can down-regulate genes in the ribosome pathway while ZGW can reverse this inhibition and as a result promote the development of embryos loaded with high glucose. We found that high glucose can affect sugar metabolism and influence mitochondrial function, but that ZGW can promote sugar metabolism via the tricarboxylic acid cycle mainly through up-regulating the genes in the respiratory chain and oxidative phosphorylation. The regulation of mitochondrial energy metabolism is the main effect of ZGW on high glucose loaded embryos. Significance: This research not only revealed the global gene regulation changes of high glucose affecting 2-cell stage embryos, but also provided insight on the potential molecular mechanisms of ZGW on the IGT model. Overall design: Three groups: control group(1), model group(4) and drug group(7), each group has three biological replicates.