NAMPT regulates mitochondria and oxidative stress level for mouse early embryo development.

May 05, 2025

Experts: Mei-Hua Liao,Xin Liu,Xiao-Ting Yu,Shun Zhang,You-Zhu Li,Lin-Lin Hu,Shao-Chen Sun,Jun-Li Wang

Nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT) is an enzyme that involves into NMN-NAD + synthesis which involves into cellular metabolism related with aging, immune function, and neurodegeneration. However, its roles in early embryo development are still unclear.
In present study we disturbed the NAMPT activity and employed immunofluorescence staining and live cell imaging to explore its roles during early embryo development.
We showed that NAMPT mRNA level was stable during mouse early embryo development, and NAMPT accumulated in the nucleus of blastomeres in mouse embryos. The loss of NAMPT activity disturbed the early cleavage from zygote to 2-cell, 4-cell to morula formation in the dose-dependent manner. We found that NAMPT inhibition disrupted mitochondria function in 2-cell embryos, showing decreased mitochondria number and aberrant accumulation in the blastomeres, which further disturb mitochondrial membrane potential level and elevated ROS level in embryos, indicating the occurrence of oxidative stress. Moreover, NAMPT inhibition also increased the apoptotic index, showing with increased Annexin-V signals and apoptotic gene expression.
Taken together, our study provided the evidence that NAMPT was essential for the mitochondria function to control oxidative stress and apoptosis during mouse early embryo development.

© 2025. The Author(s).

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ABOUT THE EXPERTS

Mei-Hua Liao,Xin Liu,Xiao-Ting Yu,Shun Zhang,You-Zhu Li,Lin-Lin Hu,Shao-Chen Sun,Jun-Li Wang

Mei-Hua Liao

Key Laboratory of Research on Clinical Molecular Diagnosis for High Incidence Diseases in Western Guangxi of Guangxi Higher Education Institutions, Reproductive Medicine of Guangxi Medical and Health Key Discipline Construction Project, Affiliated Hospital of Youjiang Medical University for Nationalities, Baise, China.

Xin Liu

College of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China.

Xiao-Ting Yu

Key Laboratory of Research on Clinical Molecular Diagnosis for High Incidence Diseases in Western Guangxi of Guangxi Higher Education Institutions, Reproductive Medicine of Guangxi Medical and Health Key Discipline Construction Project, Affiliated Hospital of Youjiang Medical University for Nationalities, Baise, China.

College of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China.

Shun Zhang

Department of Reproductive Medical Center, The Affiliated Hospital of Guilin Medical University, Guilin, China.

You-Zhu Li

Department of Reproductive Medicine, School of Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China.

Lin-Lin Hu

Key Laboratory of Research on Clinical Molecular Diagnosis for High Incidence Diseases in Western Guangxi of Guangxi Higher Education Institutions, Reproductive Medicine of Guangxi Medical and Health Key Discipline Construction Project, Affiliated Hospital of Youjiang Medical University for Nationalities, Baise, China.

Shao-Chen Sun

Key Laboratory of Research on Clinical Molecular Diagnosis for High Incidence Diseases in Western Guangxi of Guangxi Higher Education Institutions, Reproductive Medicine of Guangxi Medical and Health Key Discipline Construction Project, Affiliated Hospital of Youjiang Medical University for Nationalities, Baise, China. sunsc@njau.edu.cn.

College of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, China. sunsc@njau.edu.cn.

Jun-Li Wang

Key Laboratory of Research on Clinical Molecular Diagnosis for High Incidence Diseases in Western Guangxi of Guangxi Higher Education Institutions, Reproductive Medicine of Guangxi Medical and Health Key Discipline Construction Project, Affiliated Hospital of Youjiang Medical University for Nationalities, Baise, China. baisewangjunli@163.com.