Embryonic stem cell as nuclear donor could promote in vitro development of the heterogeneous reconstructed embryo

The nucleus of a somatic cell could be dedifferentiated and reprogrammed in an enucleated heterogeneous oocyte. Some reconstructed oocytes could develop into blastocysts in vitro, and a few could develop into term normally after transferred into foster mothers, but most of cloning embryos fail to develop to term. In order to evaluate the efficacy of embryonic stem cell as nucleus donor in interspecific animal cloning, we reconstructed enucleated rabbit oocytes with nuclei from mouse ES cells, and analyzed the developmental ability of reconstructed embryos in vitro. Two kinds of fibroblast cells were used as donor control, one derived from ear skin of an adult Kunming albino mouse, and the other derived from a mouse fetus. Three types of cells were transferred into perivitelline space under zona pellucida of rabbit oocytes respectively. The reconstructed oocytes were fused and activated by electric pulses, and cultured in vitro. The developmental rate of reconstructed oocytes derived from embryonic stem cells was 16.1%, which was significantly higher than that of both the adult mouse fibroblast cells (0%-3.1%, P < 0.05) and fetus mouse fibroblast cells (2.1%-3.7%, P < 0.05). Chromosome analysis confirmed that blastocyst cells were derived from ES donor cell. These observations show that reprogramming is easier in interspecific embryos reconstructed with ES cells than that reconstructed with somatic cells, and that ES cells have the higher ability to direct the reconstructed embryos development normally than fibroblast cells.     

成纤维细胞和ES细胞在小鼠和兔去核卵母细胞内发育

以昆明白小鼠成纤维细胞和胚胎干（ES）细胞作为供核细胞,以昆明白小鼠和日本大耳白兔的MⅡ期去核卵母细胞作为受体,采用核移植方法,构楚了克隆胚胎．在同种克隆中,以ES细胞为供核细胞的克隆胚胎卵裂率明显低于以成纤维细胞为供核细胞的克隆胚胎卵裂率（24．4％相对于56．9％,P〈0．05）,1．8％的ES细胞克隆胚胎发育到囊胚阶段,而成纤维细胞克隆胚胎没能发育到囊胚阶段;在异种克隆中,以ES细胞为供核细胞的克隆胚胎卵裂率（89．6％）和囊胚发育率（18．8％）明显高于以成纤维细胞为供核细胞的克隆胚胎卵裂率（54．2％）和囊胚发育率（4．2％）．     

Serial nuclear transfer improves the development of interspecies reconstructed giant panda (Aluropoda melanoleuca) embryos

Interspecies somatic nuclear transfer (NT) may provide a new approach for preservation of the endangered rare species. Previous interspecies cloning studies have shown that a nucleus from a quiescent somatic cell supports early development of reconstructed embryos in the ooplasm from another species. In this study, we transferred nonquiescent somatic cells from a giant panda into the perivitelline space of the enucleated rabbit oocytes. After electrofusion (at the rate of 71.6%) and electrical activation, 4.2% of the panda-rabbit reconstructed embryos developed to blastocyst in vitro. For improving the development rate of reconstructed embryos, we used serial NT in this study, i.e. blastomeres from reconstructed morulae were transferred into the perivitelline space of the enucleated rabbit oocytes. The fusion rates in the groups of serial I, serial II and serial III were 79.5%, 84.1% and 78.0%, respectively, having no difference with that of somatic group. And the blastocyst rates in serial NT groups were 19.4%, 13.5% and 10.3%, respectively, which are significantly higher than that in somatic NT group. These results indicate that the nuclei from nonquiescent somatic cells can support early development of reconstructed embryos and serial NT can improve the development rate of interspecies reconstructed embryos. These authors contributed equally to this work.     

Effects of different nuclear transfer and activation methods on the development of mouse somatic cell cloned embryos

A group of adult somatic cell cloned mice were obtained by using cumulus cells as nuclei donor cells. To study the effect of different nuclear transfer (NT) and activation methods on the development of mouse cloned embryos, embryos were reconstructed using two traditional NT methods (electrofusion and direct injection) and four activation treatments (electric pulse, ethanol, SrCl2 and electric pulse combined with SrCl2). The data showed that the efficiency of reconstruction using the direct injection method is significantly higher (90.7%) than that of the electrofusion method (49.7%). Parthenogenetic embryos can develop to blastocyst stage with three activation conditions, including ethanol, electric pulse and SrCl2; however, the rates of development to blastocyst after ethanol and electric pulse acti-vation (52.4%, 54.2%) are significantly lower than after SrCl2 activation (76.9%). Treatment of embryos for 6 h with 10 mmol/L SrCl2 was found to be the best condition for activation of parthenogenetic as well as reconstructed embryos. By contrast, reconstructed embryos failed to develop to blastocyst stage after being activated by ethanol. The use of either injection or electrofusion for embryo reconstruction affected the pre-implantation development. However, after transfer in pseudopregnant mice, cloned mice were obtained from both methods.     

Green fluorescent protein （GFP） transsenic pig produced by somatic cell nuclear transfer

Transgenic somatic cell nuclear transfer is a very promising route for producing transgenic farm animals. Research on GFP transgenic pigs can provide useful information for breeding transgenic pigs, human disease models and human organ xenotransplantation. In this study, a liposomal transfecUon system was screened and transgenic embryos were reconstructed by nuclear transfer of GFP positive cells into enucleated in vitro matured oocytes. The development of reconstructed embryos both in vitro and in vivo was observed, and GFP expression was determined. The results showed that porcine fe- tal-derived fibroblast cells cultured with 4.0 μL/mL liposome and 1.6 μg/mL plasmid DNA for 6 h resulted in the highest transfecUon rate （3.6%）. The percentage of GFP reconstructed embryos that de- veloped in vitro to the blastocyst stage was 10%. Of those the GFP positive percentage was 48%. Reconstructed transgenic embryos were transferred to 10 recipients. 5 of them were pregnant, and 3 delivered 6 cloned piglets in which 4 piglets were transgenic for the GFP as verified by both GFP protein expression and GFP DNA sequence analysis. The percentage of reconstructed embryos that resulted in cloned piglets was 1.0%; while the percentage of piglets that were transgenic was 0.7%. This is the first group of transgenic cloned pigs born in China, marking a great progress in Chinese transgenic cloned pig research.     

Cloned pigs produced by nuclear transfer from adult somatic cells

Since the first report of live mammals produced by nuclear transfer from a cultured differentiated cell population in 1995 (ref. 1), successful development has been obtained in sheep, cattle, mice and goats using a variety of somatic cell types as nuclear donors. The methodology used for embryo reconstruction in each of these species is essentially similar: diploid donor nuclei have been transplanted into enucleated MII oocytes that are activated on, or after transfer. In sheep and goat pre-activated oocytes have also proved successful as cytoplast recipients. The reconstructed embryos are then cultured and selected embryos transferred to surrogate recipients for development to term. In pigs, nuclear transfer has been significantly less successful; a single piglet was reported after transfer of a blastomere nucleus from a four-cell embryo to an enucleated oocyte; however, no live offspring were obtained in studies using somatic cells such as diploid or mitotic fetal fibroblasts as nuclear donors. The development of embryos reconstructed by nuclear transfer is dependent upon a range of factors. Here we investigate some of these factors and report the successful production of cloned piglets from a cultured adult somatic cell population using a new nuclear transfer procedure.     

Nuclear transfer using nonquiescent adult fibroblasts from a bovine ear

The natural reproduction of mammal is sexual reproduction, which needs fertilization involving sperm and oocyte. Nuclear transfer provided an asexual reproduction method for mammal. Donor cells used in previous experiments of nuclear transfer were mostly from undifferentiated or non-terminally differentiated cells, such as embryonic or fetal cells. However, since Wilmutet al. obtained a viable lamb by transfer of an adult sheep somatic cell into an enucleated oocyte, nuclear transfer using adult somatic cell has been successful in several species. Wilmutet al. suggested that it was a key factor for the success of somatic nuclear transfer to induce the donor cells into GO phase (“GO-phase hypothesis”). In order to verify the Gophase hypothesis, nonquiescent adult fibroblasts from a bovine ear were transferred into enucleated bovine oocytes. The experiments showed that the rate of electrofusion after micromanipulation was above 50%, the cleaving rate was 54.5% and 9.1% of those reconstructed embryos developed to 32-cell stage. These results indicate that for cattle, nuclei from nonquiescent adult somatic cells introduced into enucleated oocytes are at least capable of supporting early development.     

卵母细胞老化对小鼠体细胞克隆胚发育的影响

就小鼠卵母细胞的卵龄对克隆胚的体外发育能力的影响进行了检测,以确定最佳的取卵时间,以及取卵后进行核移植操作的可耐受的时间。采用PMSG和hCG超排B6D2F1雌鼠。在体内老化实验中,分别于注射hCG后13,15,17,20h取卵用于核移植操作;在体外老化实验中,所有的卵均于注射hCG后13h取出并培养,然后在13,15,17,20h进行核移植操作。每个时间点的核移植操作在1h内完成,重构的胚胎培养1h后进行激活。结果显示:在体内老化实验中,注射hCG后13h取卵,获得的克隆囊胚发育率最高,为56.0%,15h取卵仍维持了其支持胚胎体外发育的能力,但17h及更长时间后取的卵,重构后的囊胚发育率显著下降(18.1%)。注射hCG后15h取的卵孤雌发育率最高(囊胚发育率为90.1%),并在17h仍维持较高的孤雌发育能力,在20h显著下降。在体外老化试验中,于注射hCG后13h取卵,分别于13,15,17h重构,都获得了较高的囊胚发育率(分别为57.7%,52.2%,46.3%),而在注射hCG后20h重构,囊胚发育率显著下降(14.8%)。体外老化的孤雌胚在注射hCG后22h激活时囊胚发育率显著下降。结果表明:卵母细胞在体内和体外老化都影响克隆胚的体外发育,最佳取卵时间为注射hCG后13h,取卵后立即用于重构可获得最佳囊胚发育率;体内、外老化卵支持重构胚较好发育的时间间隔是不同的,体内老化卵支持重构胚发育能力从注射hCG后17h开始下降,体外老化卵则发生在20h。这些结果可以指导操作,有利于在应用核移植进行其他基础研究时降低操作引起的误差。     

Production of transgenic calves by somatic cellnuclear transfer

Bovine fetal oviduct epithelial cells were transfected with constructed double marker selective vector(pCE-EGFP-IRES-Neo-dNdB) containing the enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) and neomycin-resistant(Neo^r) genes by electroporation, and a transgenic cell line was obtained. Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) was cartied out using the transgenic cells as nuclei donor. A total of 424 SCNT embryos were reconstructed and 208 (49.1%) of them developed to blastocyst stage. 17 blastocysts on D 7 after reconstruction were transferred to 17 surrogate calves,and 5 (29.4%) recipients were found to be pregnant. Three of them maintained to term and delivered three cloned calves.PCR and Southern blot analysis confirmed the integration of transgene in all of the three cloned calves. In addition, expression of EGFP was detected in biopsy isolated from the transgenic cloned calves and fibroblasts derived from the biopsy. Our results suggest that transgenic calves could be efficiently produced by SCNT using transgenic cells as nuclei donor. Furthermore, all cloned animals could be ensured to be transgenic by efficiently pre-screening transgenic cells and SCNT embryos using the constructed double marker selective vector.     

Calcium-releasing activity induced by nuclei of mouse fertilized early embryos

At fertilization,repectitive transient rises of intracellular calcium concentration occur in all mammals studied so far .It has been shown that calcium rises could be induced when mouse fertilized 1-,2-cell nuclei were trans-planted into unfertilized eggs and that the reconstituted embryo could be activated .Howerver,whecther the capability of inducing calcium rises occurs in all stages of mammalian embryos remains unknown ,In this study ,by using the nuclear transplantation technique and measurement of intracellular calcium rises in living cells,we showed that only the nuclei from mouse fertilized 1-cell and 2-cell embryos ,neither the nuclei from 4-,8-cell and ethanol activated parthe-nogenetic embryos nor 2 or 3 nuclei of electrofused 4-cell stage syncytium ,have calcium -releasing activity when they were transferred into unfertilized mature oocytes,Our results indicate that the calcium-releasing activity in nuclei of 1-,2-cell embryos is produced during fertilization and exists at the special stage of fertilized early embryos.These sug-gested that the capacity of inducting calcium release activity in fertilized early embryos is important for normal embryonic development.     

Aberrant DNA methylation in cloned ovine embryos

By using the approach of immunofluorescence staining with an antibody against 5-methylcytosine （5MeC）, the present study detected the DNA methylation patterns of cloned ovine embryos. The embryos derived from in vitro fertilization were also examined for reference purpose. The results showed that： （1） during the preimplantation development, cloned embryos displayed a similar demethylation profile to the fertilized embryos; that is, the methylation level decreased to the lowest at 8-cell stage, and then increased again at morulae stage. However, methylation level was obviously higher in cloned embryos than in stage-matched fertilized embryos, especially at 8-cell stage and afterwards; （2） at blastocyst stage, the methylation pattern in cloned embryos was different from that in fertilized embryos. In cloned blastocyst, inner cell mass （ICM） exhibited a comparable level to trophectoderm cells （TE）, while in in-vitro fertilized blastocyst the methylation level of ICM was lower than that of TE, which is not consistent with that reported by other authors. These results indicate that DNA methylation is abnormally reprogrammed in cloned embryos, implying that aberrant DNA methylation reprogramming may be one of the factors causing cloned embryos developmental failure.     

Nuclear transplantation in different strains of zebrafish

Single later blastula nuclei from AB strain of zebrafish (Danio rerio) were transplanted into enucleated unfertilized eggs of Long fin strain. Of 1119 cloning embryos, 14 reconstructed embryos developed into fry. DNA fingerprinting systems of the cloned fish were similar to those of the nuclear donor fish, but were distinctly different from those of the nuclear recipient fish. It confirmed that the genetic material originated from nuclear donor cell other than from nuclear recipient egg. The research suggested that the basic technique for nuclear transplantation performed with different strains of zebrafish has made a breakthrough. It should be helpful for the study of some important developmental problems such as gene function, the regulation ogene expression during animal development, the developmental potential of a nucleus and the interactions between the donor nucleus and the recipient cytoplasm, etc.     

Clone of Chinese Jinan red-cross yellow cattle and evaluation of reproductive characteristics of cloned calf

Somatic cell clone technology is a viable approach to preserving endangered livestock and wildlife genetic resources. In the present research, somatic cell nuclear transfer （SCNT） was performed using granulose cells from the critical endangered Chinese red-cross yellow cattle as donor cells. A total of 211 oocytes were manipulated and 166 （79%） of them were successfully enucleated. 112 （67.4%） SCNT embryos were reconstructed, 94 （83%） of them cleaved, and 48 （43 %） of them developed to blastocyst stage. SCNT blastocysts were transferred to 6 Holstein recipients, and 2 （33%） of them were found to be pregnant. One of them maintained to term and delivered a calf, whereas another aborted. Effect of different fusion buffer （mannitol vs. Zimmerman fusion buffer） and different activation methods （calcium ionophore＋6-DMAP vs. cycloheximide＋CB） on fusion rate and development of SCNT embryos were investigated. The results indicated that： （i） on condition of two DC pulses of 2.5 kV/cm for 10 μs each, fusion rates were higher in mannitol solution than in Zimmerman fusion buffer （71% vs. 61%, respectively, p 〈 0.05）, but the blastocysts rates did not differ between two treatments （36 % vs. 39 %, p〉0.05 ）; （ii） There was no significant difference in development rates to the blastocyst stage for SCNT embryos activated by calcium ionophore＋6-DMAP or by cycloheximide＋CB （42% vs. 46%, respectively, p〉0.05）. Microsatellite DNA analysis examining 28 loci confirmed that the cloned calf was genetically identical to the donor Jinan red-cross yellow cattle and different from the recipient females. Growth and reproductive performance of cloned cow were evaluated, and there were no difference i cross-red n it between cloned and normal control Jinan yellow cattle. Furthermore, the cloned yellow cow has delivered a healthy yellow calf.     

Reconstruction of human embryos derived from somatic cells

Reconstruction of human nuclear transfer embryos is a necessary step of therapeutic cloning. In this study we injected somatic cell nuclei into M Ⅱ oocytes and activated reconstructed oocytes with calcium ionophore A23187 (CaA) and 6-dimethylaminopurine (6-DMAP). After oocyteactivation and 2PN formation, we removed the female PN.By using this method, we avoided the application of DNA fluorescent stain and ultraviolet light for oocyte enucleation,and over elimination of ooplasm was also mitigated. Some reconstructed embryos developed into the blastocyst stage in vitro.     

昆明小鼠胚胎移植技术的研究

目的研究不同时期胚胎对胚胎移植成功率的影响,以提高胚胎移植率。方法采用经超数排卵的KM雌鼠与正常615雄鼠交配,取受精卵,分别将1-细胞胚、2-细胞胚和桑椹胚、囊胚分别移入发情的假孕KM雌鼠的输卵管和子宫中,妊娠产仔。结果移入1-细胞胚、2-细胞胚、桑椹胚和囊胚的假孕母鼠妊娠率分别为36.36%、42.86%、10%、27.27%,产仔率分别为46.58%、38.46%、58.33%、60%。结论2-细胞胚的移植可提高小鼠的胚胎移植成功率,子宫移植可提高小鼠的产仔率。     

Production of transgenic blastocyst of sheep by somatic cell cloning

Five samples from primary cultures of five sheep ovarian granulosa cells were transfected by pEGFP- N1 DNA. Five transgenic positive cell lines, each from one of the five samples above, were used as donor nuclei for somatic nucleus transfer. A total of 352 in vitro matured and enucleated sheep oocytes were fused electrically with transgenic granulosa cells and 329 reconstructed embryos were obtained after activation by Ionomycin/6-DMAP, and these embryos were cultured in SOFaaBSA medium for 7 d. The result shows that 312 embryos (94.8%) had gone through cleavage and among them 63 (19.1%) had developed to the blastocyst stage. Expression of GFP gene was detected in various stages of early embryonic development by sampling randomly. Blastocyst rates given by the four cells treated with 0.5% FCS starvation was 19.6% (55/280) and it had not shown difference significantly (P＞0.05) with the result obtained with another cell line that had not gone through serum starvation (16.3%, 8/49). This experiment indicates that sheep transgenic embryos up to the blastocyst stage can be produced effectively by the combination of gene transfection in somatic cells in culture and somatic cell cloning.     

小鼠四倍体半克隆胚胎发育研究

半克隆(Semi-Cloned)胚胎是通过注射体细胞核到未去核的卵母细胞中产生的。在半克隆胚胎中,体细胞被用来作为精子的替代物。然而,由于异常的染色体分离,构建的半克隆胚胎在激活后形成了非整倍体而导致胚胎发育受到严重影响,不能发育到期。本研究通过抑制小鼠半克隆胚胎在激活过程中染色体数目减半,避免非整倍体胚胎形成,研究四倍体半克隆(TetraploidSemi-cloned,TSC)胚胎的发育和体细胞核的掺入对胚胎发育的影响。结果显示,TSC胚胎的体外发育率显著高于二倍体半克隆胚胎,与正常受精卵及孤雌激活对照无显著性差异,但TSC胚胎的细胞数在桑椹胚和囊胚期比正常二倍体受精胚胎和孤雌激活胚胎少。通过Oct-4染色发现,TSC胚胎囊胚期内细胞团(InnerCellMass,ICM)细胞很少或者没有。移植63个四倍体半克隆胚胎到3只假孕母鼠体内,得到20个胎盘,但没有得到胎儿。组蛋白乙酰化和DNA甲基化检测显示,部分TSC胚胎在囊胚期没有形成正常受精胚胎在ICM和滋养外胚层(Trophectoderm,TE)之间的差异分布。TSC胚胎的基因表达不依赖于细胞分裂次数而依赖于发育时间。虽然TSC胚胎避免了二倍体半克隆胚胎形成非整倍体现象,但由于TSC胚胎没有ICM细胞或ICM细胞很少,所以只能形成胎盘而不能形成胎儿。本实验第一次较为全面地研究了TSC胚胎的发育,同时也为研究体细胞核再程序化、基因打靶技术提供了一种新的途径。     

Developmental reprogramming after chromosome transfer into mitotic mouse zygotes

Until now, animal cloning and the production of embryonic stem cell lines by somatic cell nuclear transfer have relied on introducing nuclei into meiotic oocytes. In contrast, attempts at somatic cell nuclear transfer into fertilized interphase zygotes have failed. As a result, it has generally been assumed that unfertilized human oocytes will be required for the generation of tailored human embryonic stem cell lines from patients by somatic cell nuclear transfer. Here we report, however, that, unlike interphase zygotes, mouse zygotes temporarily arrested in mitosis can support somatic cell reprogramming, the production of embryonic stem cell lines and the full-term development of cloned animals. Thus, human zygotes and perhaps human embryonic blastomeres may be useful supplements to human oocytes for the creation of patient-derived human embryonic stem cells.     

Cloned pigs derived from somatic cell nuclear transfer embryos cultured in vitro at low oxygen tension

Great progress have been made in animal cloning in China, as evidenced by the live births of cloned cat- tle[1,2], goats[3,4], and sheep[5]. In contrast, pig cloning is still in its infancy though limited fundamental studieshave been conducted[6]. It is g…     

花背蟾蜍早期发育中内胚层细胞核的分化

以细胞核移植的方法,探讨花背蟾蜍早期发育中内胚层细胞核的分化。实验按供体胚胎的不同发育时期分7组,并以囊胚期动物极区细胞核的移植作对照。结果表明:原肠晚期以前的内胚层细胞核与囊胚期动物极区细胞核一样,是尚未分化的,它们仍具有发育的全能性。从神经胚期开始,细胞核有了明显的分化,但这种分化是渐进的,至摄食期的蝌蚪仍有部分细胞核保持着促使卵子发育的功能。