Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer in Embryonic Development and Stem Cell Research

Dear Colleagues,

Two highly effective reprogramming methods—somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs)—are areas of interest in the field of stem cell research and regenerative medicine. The success of SCNT in a range of different mammalian species has demonstrated that such reprograming activity in enucleated or spindle-free oocytes is universal. The low efficiency of SCNT is becoming a major obstacle in the production of genome-edited animals. Despite numerous applications of SCNT for animal cloning, the extremely low rate of development of SCNT embryos indicates that their mechanism remains unexplored. Several key factors—such as reactive oxygen species (ROS), epigenetic state, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, and embryonic genome activation (EGA) measurement—can play a significant role in SCNT embryo development. Stage-dependent genomic comparison of SCNT embryos can provide a reasonable explanation for this poor development. Furthermore, cytoplasmic factors present in metaphase II (MII)-arrested oocytes have a unique ability to reset the identity of transplanted somatic cell nuclei to the embryonic state, but the oocyte factors, their mechanism of action, and the nature of reprogramming remain largely unknown. Quantitative proteomic analysis can identify the reprogramming mechanism of oocyte.

This special issue of the International Journal of Molecular Sciences will focus on recent insights into SCNT-derived embryonic development, the mechanism of somatic cell reprogramming, differential gene expression in SCNT embryos and embryonic stem cells (ESCs), proteomic analysis of SCNT embryos, embryonic genome activation in SCNT embryos, ROS-activated apoptosis, and epigenetic regulation in SCNT embryos; therefore, submissions dealing with these topics are welcome.

Prof. Dr. Il-Keun Kong
Guest Editor

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