Dynamic CpG island methylation landscape in oocytes and preimplantation embryos

Abstract

Gavin Kelsey and colleagues report methylation landscapes in mouse oocytes, sperm and blastocysts. They find that the majority of methylated CpG islands in oocytes display incomplete demethylation in preimplantation embryos. Elucidating how and to what extent CpG islands (CGIs) are methylated in germ cells is essential to understand genomic imprinting and epigenetic reprogramming1,2,3. Here we present, to our knowledge, the first integrated epigenomic analysis of mammalian oocytes, identifying over a thousand CGIs methylated in mature oocytes. We show that these CGIs depend on DNMT3A and DNMT3L4,5 but are not distinct at the sequence level, including in CpG periodicity6. They are preferentially located within active transcription units and are relatively depleted in H3K4me3, supporting a general transcription-dependent mechanism of methylation. Very few methylated CGIs are fully protected from post-fertilization reprogramming but, notably, the majority show incomplete demethylation in embryonic day (E) 3.5 blastocysts. Our study shows that CGI methylation in gametes is not entirely related to genomic imprinting but is a strong factor in determining methylation status in preimplantation embryos, suggesting a need to reassess mechanisms of post-fertilization demethylation.