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.     

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.     

Alteration of the quality of milk by expression of sheep beta-lactoglobulin in transgenic mice

Milk contains a large amount of protein, most of which consists of a few major species synthesized in the mammary gland. The genes encoding these proteins are single-copy, and expressed during pregnancy and lactation. Although beta-lactoglobulin (BLG) is the major protein in the whey of ruminants, it is not present in rodent milk. We have generated transgenic mice carrying the sheep BLG gene, and show that in such mice, BLG is specifically and abundantly expressed in the mammary gland during lactation. This results in a remarkable alteration of milk composition. These findings suggest that the manipulation of milk composition by gene transfer has considerable potential for the improvement of dairy animals.     

Production of antibodies in transgenic plants

Complementary DNAs derived from a mouse hybridoma messenger RNA were used to transform tobacco leaf segments followed by regeneration of mature plants. Plants expressing single gamma or kappa immunoglobulin chains were crossed to yield progeny in which both chains were expressed simultaneously. A functional antibody accumulated to 1.3% of total leaf protein in plants expressing full-length cDNAs containing leader sequences. Specific binding of the antigen recognized by these antibodies was similar to the hybridoma-derived antibody. Transformants having gamma- or kappa-chain cDNAs without leader sequences gave poor expression of the proteins. The increased abundance of both gamma- and kappa-chains in transformants expressing assembled gamma-kappa complexes was not reflected in increased mRNA levels. The results demonstrate that production of immunoglobulins and assembly of functional antibodies occurs very efficiently in tobacco. Assembly of subunits by sexual cross might be a generally applicable method for expression of heterologous multimers in plants.     

Production of gene-targeted sheep by nuclear transfer from cultured somatic cells

It is over a decade since the first demonstration that mouse embryonic stem cells could be used to transfer a predetermined genetic modification to a whole animal. The extension of this technique to other mammalian species, particularly livestock, might bring numerous biomedical benefits, for example, ablation of xenoreactive transplantation antigens, inactivation of genes responsible for neuropathogenic disease and precise placement of transgenes designed to produce proteins for human therapy. Gene targeting has not yet been achieved in mammals other than mice, however, because functional embryonic stem cells have not been derived. Nuclear transfer from cultured somatic cells provides an alternative means of cell-mediated transgenesis. Here we describe efficient and reproducible gene targeting in fetal fibroblasts to place a therapeutic transgene at the ovine alpha1(I) procollagen (COL1A1) locus and the production of live sheep by nuclear transfer.     

Production of transgenic mice carrying green fluorescence proteingene by a lentiviral vector-mediated approach

A pseudo-lentivirus, which carries green fluorescence protein (GFP) expressing cassette, was injected into the perivitelline space of murine fertilized oocytes before transplanting into the oviducts of the foster mothers. The GFP transgenic pups were then obtained. By PCR amplification, fluorescent microscopy and flow assisted cytometry sorting analysis, we found that the integration rate of the transgene was estimated at above 40%. Real-time PCR analysis indicated that the copy number of the integrated GFP cassette was around 40. Fluorescent in situ hybridization analysis demonstrated that the integration pattern was random but inheritable. The transgenic mice with multi-integration sites and various expression levels possessed a great value in practice as well as research. The approach reported herein provides an efficient way to generate and screen the transgenic mouse strains.     

Production of transgenic mice carrying green fluorescence proteingene by a lentiviral vector-mediated approach

A pseudo-lentivirus, which carries green fluorescence protein (GFP) expressing cassette, was injected into the perivitelline space of murine fertilized oocytes before transplanting into the oviducts of the foster mothers. The GFP transgenic pups were then obtained. By PCR amplification, fluorescent microscopy and flow assisted cytometry sorting analysis, we found that the integration rate of the transgene was estimated at above 40%. Real-time PCR analysis indicated that the copy number of the integrated GFP cassette was around 40. Fluorescent in situ hybridization analysis demonstrated that the integration pattern was random but inheritable. The transgenic mice with multi-integration sites and various expression levels possessed a great value in practice as well as research. The approach reported herein provides an efficient way to generate and screen the transgenic mouse strains.     

Production of transgenic mice carrying green fluorescence protein gene by a lentiviral vector-mediated approach

A pseudo-lentivirus, which carries green fluorescence protein (GFP) expressing cassette, was injected into the periv itelline space of murine fertilized oocytes before transplanting into the oviducts of the foster mothers. The GFP transgenic pups were then obtained. By PCR amplification, fluorescent microscopy and flow assisted cytometry sorting analysis, we found that the integration rate of the transgene was estimated at above 40% . Real-time PCR analysis indicated that the copy number of the integrated GFP cassette was around 40. Fluorescent in situ hybridization analysis demonstrated that the integration pattern was random but inheritable. The transgenic mice with multi-integration sites and various expression levels possessed a great value in practice as well as research. The approach reported herein provides an efficient way to generate and screen the transgenic mouse strains.     

Elevation of tubulin levels by microinjection suppresses new tubulin synthesis

Most eukaryotic cells rapidly and specifically depress synthesis of alpha- and beta-tubulin polypeptides in response to microtubule inhibitors which cause microtubule depolymerization and presumably increase the intracellular concentration of free subunits. Other drugs which interfere with microtubule function but which lead to a decrease in the subunit pool size have little effect on the rate of new tubulin synthesis. These findings have previously been interpreted to indicate that cultured cells synthesize tubulin constitutively unless the subunit pool rises above a specified level. At this point an autoregulatory control mechanism is triggered which suppresses new tubulin synthesis through specific loss of tubulin mRNAs. That tubulin RNA levels are dramatically lowered by microtubule depolymerizing drugs is unquestionably correct; that fluctuations in the depolymerized tubulin pool size are responsible for altered RNA levels rests, however, entirely on the presumptive effects of different microtubule drugs. This caveat is not trivial, as these drugs induce gross morphological alterations, and the specificities and detailed mechanisms of action of such drugs remain poorly understood. To investigate the effect of altered levels of tubulin subunits on the rate of new tubulin synthesis in mammalian cells, we have microinjected purified tubulin subunits into cells in culture and analysed the synthesized proteins. We report here that tubulin synthesis is rapidly and specifically suppressed by injection of an amount of tubulin roughly equivalent to 25-50% of the amount initially present in the cell, thus indicating the presence of an eukaryotic, autoregulatory control mechanism which specifies tubulin content in a cultured mammalian cell line.     

Release of mature starfish oocytes from interphase arrest by microinjection of human centrosomes

Mature oocytes (unfertilized eggs) are arrested at definite cell-cycle stages which vary from species to species. In frogs and mammals, the oocytes are arrested at the second metaphase of meiosis whereas in echinoderms they are blocked later, at the pronucleus stage. What causes the maturing oocytes to stop at some point in the cell cycle is not entirely clear. In frogs, the metaphase arrest seems to be maintained by a cytostatic factor. In echinoderms, which stop at interphase, no such a factor has so far been found. The fertilization process, beyond the introduction of paternal chromosomes, releases the oocyte from cell-cycle arrest and provides a functional centrosome to replace the endogenous centrosome which is apparently lost during oogenesis in most species. Several lines of evidence suggest that release from cell-cycle arrest is mediated by a Ca2+ burst which is associated with fertilization, and it is known that the functional centrosome provided by the sperm is necessary for mitotic spindle formation and cleavages. We report here that microinjection of purified human centrosomes into mature starfish oocytes is sufficient to release them from arrest at interphase and to support many cleavages leading to the occasional formation of normal embryos. In this species centrosome induced re-entry into the cell cycle does not require a transient calcium burst nor does it require intact microtubules.     

杜泊羊、藏羊和小尾寒羊AFLP多态性分析

利用11对AFLP引物组合,检测杜泊羊、藏羊和小尾寒羊池DNA遗传变异,构建了各个品种的AFLP DNA指纹图谱,根据AFLP分析结果,统计了每个引物组合在各个品种中检测到的多态性条带,计算了3个品种的遗传相似系数,并据此构建了UPGMA聚类关系图,分析了所研究羊种的遗传关系。结果表明:11对AFLP引物组合在3个绵羊品种中共检测到312条带,平均每个引物组合产生28.36条带,品种间的遗传相似系数,其中藏羊与小尾寒羊遗传相似系数最高(0.672),杜泊羊与藏羊遗传相似系数最小(0.301),聚类结果与这些羊的育成史、分化及地理分布一致。