Research report: Maternal TCL1 enables early embryonic development partially through HSD17B4-dependent CDCA metabolism

Females lacking Tcl1 maintained a normal follicle reserve and completed meiotic progression normally, yet most of their embryos arrested after the two-cell stage. These findings were reported in Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences. The researchers used quantitative proteomic and metabolomic analyses to examine the developmental defects associated with maternal Tcl1 deficiency.

Oocytes from mutant females had significantly lower abundance of the peroxisomal β-oxidation enzyme HSD17B4 and reduced levels of chenodeoxycholic acid, or CDCA. The combined measurements linked maternal TCL1 to HSD17B4-associated metabolism and CDCA availability in oocytes, providing a metabolic explanation for the embryos’ impaired development. Functional experiments showed that zygotic knockdown of Hsd17b4 partially reproduced the developmental arrest seen after the two-cell stage in embryos from Tcl1-deficient females.

This result supports a contribution from reduced HSD17B4, although the partial reproduction also indicates that HSD17B4 does not explain the entire effect of maternal TCL1 deficiency. In the other direction, supplying either Hsd17b4 mRNA or exogenous CDCA partially rescued blastocyst formation in embryos derived from Tcl1-deficient oocytes. These interventions improved development but did not produce a complete rescue, consistent with TCL1 having additional functions beyond the HSD17B4–CDCA pathway.

Transcriptome profiling added a further layer to the mechanism by showing that Tcl1 deficiency impaired major zygotic genome activation. CDCA supplementation partially alleviated this transcriptional defect, indicating that reduced CDCA contributes to the developmental impairment associated with loss of maternal TCL1.

Subject of Research: Maternal TCL1 regulation of HSD17B4-dependent CDCA metabolism in early mouse embryonic development

Article Title: Maternal TCL1 enables early embryonic development partially through HSD17B4-dependent CDCA metabolism

Article References: Du, S., He, Y., Hou, X., Wang, N., Sun, H., Li, C., Li, J., An, H., Zhao, Y., Ren, M., Chen, M., Sun, G., Guo, Y., Zhang, P., Chen, R., & Wang, Q. (2026). Maternal TCL1 enables early embryonic development partially through HSD17B4-dependent CDCA metabolism. Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00018-026-06481-x

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1007/s00018-026-06481-x

Keywords: maternal TCL1, HSD17B4, CDCA metabolism, oocyte competence, mouse embryos, early embryonic development, zygotic genome activation, peroxisomal β-oxidation, female fertility, partial rescue, Maternal, TCL1