Involvement of G9A-like protein (GLP) in the development of mouse preimplantation embryos in vitro

G9A-like protein (GLP) plays an important role in mouse early embryonic development. Glp-deficient embryos exhibit severe growth retardation and defects that lead to lethality at approximately Embryonic Day 9.5. In the present study we investigated the effect of microinjection of Glp-specific short interference (si) RNA into mouse zygotes on in vitro embryonic development. Knockdown of Glp induced abnormal embryonic development and reduced blastocyst formation. Expression of the pluripotency markers octamer-binding transcription factor 4 (Oct4), SRY (sex determining region Y)-box 2 (Sox2) and Nanog was also significantly decreased in Glp-deficient embryos. The apoptotic index and expression of two pro-apoptotic genes, namely Caspase 3 and Caspase 9, were increased in Glp-deficient embryos. Moreover, methylation levels of dimethylated H3K9 (H3K9me2) were decreased in Glp-knockdown embryos. In conclusion, the results of the present study suggest that Glp deficiency suppresses H3K9me2 modification and hinders mouse embryo development in vitro.