scholarly journals 33 PRODUCTION OF TRANSGENIC-CLONED PIGS CARRYING HDAF, GnT-III AND HETEROZYGOUSLY DISRUPTED ±-1,3-GALACTOSYLTRANSFERASE GENES

2005 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 166
Author(s):  
T. Fujimura ◽  
Y. Takahagi ◽  
H. Nagashima ◽  
S. Miyagawa ◽  
T. Shigehisa ◽  
...  

In pig-to-human xenotransplantation, transplants are rapidly rejected by binding of human natural antibodies to porcine xenoantigen, mostly Gal α-1-3Gal oligosaccharides, and subsequent complement attack. To overcome this rejection, we so far have produced transgenic pigs expressing both human CD55/DAF (decay-accelerating factor, a complement-regulatory protein) and GnT-III (N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase III, a sugar chain modifying enzyme). In the present study, we heterozygously disrupted the α-1,3-galactosyltransferase (GT) gene, which catalyses the biosynthesis of Gal α-1-3Gal epitopes, in the fetal fibroblast cells from the DAF/GnT-III transgenic pigs by homologous recombination, and successfully produced GT-knockout pigs by nuclear transfer. Fibroblast cells isolated from Day 30 fetuses of DAF/GnT-III transgenic pigs were transfected with a GT-targeting vector. The targeting event in drug-resistant colonies was confirmed by PCR analysis, and targeted cells were used as nuclear donors. The reconstructed embryos were electrically activated and transferred to estrus-synchronized recipient pigs. At pregnancy Day 27 of gestation, fetuses were collected and their fibroblast cells were isolated for secondary nuclear transfer. The genomic DNA of live-born piglets produced by the secondary nuclear transfer were analyzed for the presence of DAF and GnT-III genes as well as the heterozygous disruption of the GT gene. From a total of 5.5 × 107 cells transfected with the GT-targeting vector, 2,749 drug-resistant colonies were obtained. Eighteen colonies were judged positive for targeting events by PCR analysis. After transfer of 321 cloned embryos reconstructed with the knockout cells to three recipients, four knockout fetuses were obtained from one recipient. Transfer of 633 cloned embryos reconstructed with the knockout fibroblast cells from one knockout fetus to six recipients gave rise to two live knockout piglets. PCR analysis of genomic DNA confirmed that the cloned piglets carried both DAF and GnT-III transgenes as well as the heterozygously disrupted GT gene.

2006 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 118
Author(s):  
K. S. Ahn ◽  
M. Kwon ◽  
B. C. Koo ◽  
J. Y. Won ◽  
S. Y. Heo ◽  
...  

Constitutive expression of A transgene often results in serious physiological disturbances in transgenic animals. For instance, systemic overexpression of human growth hormone in transgenic pigs has resulted in detrimental side effects in general health and reproductive performance. One of the solutions to such problem would be inducible expression of a transgene that may restrict production of foreign proteins from transgenic animals only when needed. In this study, a retrovirus vector was designed to express the green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene under the control of the tetracycline-inducible promoter. Transformation of porcine fetal fibroblast cells was achieved by infection of the cells with the vector and subsequent antibiotic selection. To induce transgene expression, transformed porcine fetal fibroblast cells were cultured in medium supplemented with doxycycline for 48 h. Induction of the GFP gene was verified by the emission of fluorescence from transformed cells. Nuclei of transformed cells with or without doxycycline treatment were transferred into enucleated oocytes, and the induction efficiency was analyzed by monitoring fluorescent emission during development of reconstituted embryos to the blastocyst stage. In addition, differences in the rates of blastocyst development between experimental groups were analyzed by Student's t-test. Blastocyst formation of nuclear transfer embryos using transformed cells with tetracycline-inducible retrovirus vector (12.0%, 128/1072) was not significantly different (P > 0.05) from that with non-inducible control vectors (13.7%, 41/300), suggesting that an introduction of tetracycline-inducible retrovirus vector was not particularly harmful to the development of nuclear transfer embryos. Also, the blastocyst development rate of nuclear transfer embryos after induction of transgene by doxycycline (12.1%, 99/815) was not significantly different (P > 0.05) from that of the non-induced counterparts (11.3%, 29/257), suggesting that the induction of transgene did not affect the development of transgenic clone embryos. In a majority of embryos, high expression of the GFP gene was observed in cloned embryos with transgene induction, whereas poor or no GFP expression was detected in non-induced controls. The results from this study suggest that tetracycline-inducible expression of transgenes in nuclear transfer embryos may be used for production of foreign proteins in transgenic animals in a more controlled manner than with conventional procedures. Further experiments on transfer of cloned embryos carrying such an inducible transgene to recipients may enable production of transgenic pigs with fewer side effects from unregulated expression of the transgene.


2007 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 320
Author(s):  
Y. M. Shin ◽  
S. M. Chang ◽  
B. C. Kim ◽  
C. S. Park ◽  
D. I. Jin

Transgenic animals can be generated by nuclear transfer with genetically modified somatic cells in which the essential procedure of transgene transfection is required. Most transgene vectors are constructed to contain transgene and drug-resistant genes to enrich for somatic cells in which transgene integration has occurred. However, construction of transgene vectors along with drug-resistant genes may not be easy, due to inappropriate restriction sites. Therefore, in this study, two separate constructs, human tPA cDNA fused to β-casein promoter sequence as a transgene vector and neomycin-resistant gene (Neor) driven by PGK promoter as a drug-selectable gene, were co-transfected into pig and goat fetal fibroblast cells to estimate the efficiency of transgene transfection following G418 selection. First, goat fetal fibroblasts (GFF) and pig fetal fibroblasts (PFF) were tested for G418 resistance with different concentrations of G418. The pertinent concentrations of G418 were 800 µg mL−1 for GFF and 200 µg mL−1 for PFF. The linearized tPA vector and Neor gene vector were co-transfected into goat fetal fibroblasts and pig fetal fibroblasts with FuGENE6 transfection reagent (Roche Diagnostics, Mannheim, Germany). The cells were selected following exposure of 800 µg mL−1 and 200 µg mL−1 G418 for GFF and PFF, respectively, for 14 days. Cell colonies surviving G418 selection were assayed by PCR amplification with tPA-specific primers. Initially 2 × 106 GFF and PFF were transfected. Resistant colonies were counted and transferred to 24-well plates for expansion and PCR analysis. The results of co-transfection experiments are summarized in Table 1. The transfection of 2 × 106 GFF and PFF yielded an estimated 96 and 93 colonies, respectively, which survived as the G418 selection. However, 54 colonies of GFF and 39 colonies of PFF proliferated during expansion and were subjected to PCR analysis. Twenty-three and 5 of these colonies were identified to contain tPA transgene in GFF and PFF colonies, respectively. Transfection frequencies for tPA gene were 42.6% and 12.8% in GFF and PFF, respectively. These results suggest that co-transfection of transgene vector with Neor gene can be an alternative method for transfection of transgenes into fetal fibroblast cells. Table 1. Transfection efficiency of goat fetal fibroblasts (GFF) and pig fetal fibroblasts (PFF) following co-transfection of tPA gene and Neor gene


2012 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 131-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amir Amiri Yekta ◽  
Azam Dalman ◽  
Poopak Eftekhari-Yazdi ◽  
Mohammad Hossein Sanati ◽  
Abdol Hossein Shahverdi ◽  
...  

Zygote ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ji Young Won ◽  
Kwang Sung Ahn ◽  
Alice M. Sorrell ◽  
Susa Shin ◽  
Soon Young Heo ◽  
...  

SummaryHuman complement regulatory protein hCD46 may reduce the hyperacute rejection (HAR) in pig-to-human xenotransplantation. In this study, an hCD46 gene was introduced into porcine embryonic germ (EG) cells. Treatment of human serum did not affect the survival of hCD46-transgenic EG cells, whereas the treatment significantly reduced the survival of non-transgenic EG cells (p < 0.01). The transgenic EG cells presumably capable of alleviating HAR were transferred into enucleated oocytes. Among 235 reconstituted oocytes, 35 (14.9%) developed to the blastocyst stage. Analysis of individual embryos indicated that 80.0% (28/35) of embryos contained the transgene hCD46. The result of the present study demonstrates resistance of hCD46-transgenic EG cells against HAR, and the usefulness of the transgenic approach may be predicted by this cytolytic assessment prior to actual production of transgenic pigs. Subsequently performed EG cell nuclear transfer gave rise to hCD46-transgenic embryos. Further study on the transfer of these embryos to recipients may produce hCD46-transgenic pigs.


2006 ◽  
Vol 73 (7) ◽  
pp. 834-840 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guo-Cheng Lan ◽  
Zhong-Le Chang ◽  
Ming-Jiu Luo ◽  
Yun-Liang Jiang ◽  
Dong Han ◽  
...  

2006 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 212
Author(s):  
J. Y. Won ◽  
K. S. Ahn ◽  
S. Y. Heo ◽  
J. H. Kang ◽  
H. Shim

Pigs are considered the most likely source of organs for xenotransplantation due to their anatomical and physiological similarities to humans. Production of transgenic pigs including addition of human complement-regulatory protein genes and deletion of alpha-1,3-galactosyl transferase gene may overcome hyperacute rejection (HAR), the first and currently the most critical immunological hurdle in the development of xenogeneic organs for human transplantation. However, even after resolving HAR in pig-to-human xenotransplantation, a series of other transgenic pigs may be required to alleviate subsequent acute and chronic rejection and incompatibility of porcine proteins to human counterparts. The production of transgenic pigs is not only labor-intensive, time-consuming, and costly, but also the usefulness of such pigs in transplantation to humans is unpredictable. For these reasons, development of a reliable in vitro procedure to pre-evaluate effectiveness of the transgenic approach would be beneficial. This study was preformed to establish an in vitro model of xenotransplantation using porcine embryonic germ (EG) cells, undifferentiated stem cells derived from culture of primordial germ cells. Porcine EG cells were maintained in feeder-free state in DMEM containing 15% (v/v) fetal bovine serum and 1000 units/mL leukemia inhibitory factor. Human complement down-regulator hCD46 (also known as MCP, membrane cofactor protein) gene under the regulation of cytomegalovirus promoter was introduced into porcine EG cells. Transfected cells were selected by antibiotic treatment and confirmed by PCR. To test the resistance of hCD46-transgenic EG cells to human xenoreactive natural antibody and complement, EG cells were cultured for 1.5 days in DMEM containing 15% (v/v) normal human serum. The treatment with human serum did not affect the survival of hCD46-transgenic EG cells, whereas with the same treatment approximately one half of non-transfected EG cells failed to survive (P < 0.01). Transgenic EG cells presumably capable of overcoming HAR were used as nuclear donors for subsequent transfer of nuclei into enucleated oocytes. Among 110 reconstituted oocytes, 19 (17.3%) developed to the blastocyst stage. Analysis of individual nuclear transfer embryos by PCR indicated that 89.5% (17/19) of embryos contained transgene hCD46. The PCR-negative embryos might be due to an incomplete antibiotic selection of cells after transfection. Overall, the results of the present study demonstrate that the cell culture-based model of xenotransplantation may validate the usefulness of particular transgenic pigs prior to actual production. Further experiments on differentiation of transgenic EG cells into various cell types, cytolytic analysis of such cells to assess efficiency of xenotransplantation, and subsequent production and transfer of transgenic clone embryos to recipients may provide a useful new procedure to accelerate xenotransplantation research.


2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. Fan ◽  
M. Regouski ◽  
A. J. Van Wettere ◽  
Z. Wang ◽  
E. Sullivan ◽  
...  

Towards the goals of inactivating endogenous goat immunoglobulin (Ig) genes and producing fully human polyclonal antibodies in transchromosomal goats carrying a human artificial chromosome comprising the entire human Ig gene repertoire, we report here the successful generation of IgM heavy chain knockout (IGHM−/−) goats using CRISPR/Cas9 and somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) techniques. Two single-guide RNAs (sgRNAs) were designed specific for exon 1 of the goat IGHM constant region (GenBank: EU182621.1). The gene-targeting vectors were constructed by using pX330 plasmid (Plasmid No. 42230, Addgene, Cambridge, MA, USA) and transfected into 2 × 105 goat fetal fibroblast cells. Gene-targeting efficiency of each targeting vector was determined by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) assay 3 days post-transfection. Our results showed that one of the sgRNAs, 5′-GAAAGGCGCTTGAGGAATGC-3′, was efficient in directing Cas9 to generate targeted cleavages in exon 1 of IGHM constant region, with a mutation efficiency of 20%. We established single cell-derived fetal fibroblast colonies by limiting dilution of the cells transfected with the targeting vector. Colony screening with the PCR-RFLP assay confirmed that we achieved targeted gene disruption in exon 1 in 11/49 (22.4%) of the colonies (7 colonies with biallelic and 4 with monoallelic gene disruption). Sanger sequencing analysis of genomic DNA isolated from cell colonies with biallelic mutations showed that typical nucleotide deletions and insertions (indels), caused by repairing double-strand DNA breaks during the error-prone non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) process, were generated at the targeting site of exon 1. One of the colonies harboring a 1-nucleotide (nt) deletion was used as nuclear donors for SCNT. A total of 102 1-cell-stage cloned embryos were generated and surgically transferred into 6 synchronized recipients. Three of the recipients (3/6, 50.0%) were confirmed pregnant by ultrasonography on Day 40 to 45 of gestation. Two pregnancies were sacrificed for IGHM−/− fetal fibroblast isolation and one pregnancy was allowed to go to term, which led to the birth of a live and seemingly healthy kid. This goat was reared conventionally and appeared healthy until 5 weeks of age when it was killed because of commensal virus infection. The PCR-RFLP assay and sequence analysis showed that this cloned goat carried a biallelic 1-nt deletion in exon 1 of IGHM, which was identical to the donor colony it was originated from. No lymphoid follicles were observed in lymph nodes and spleen by histology, and immunohistochemistry for B cells (CD20) and T cells (CD3) demonstrated a lack of B cells in lymph nodes and spleen but the presence of T cells, confirming that IGHM has been successfully knocked out.


Reproduction ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 129 (2) ◽  
pp. 245-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
X J Yin ◽  
H S Lee ◽  
Y H Lee ◽  
Y I Seo ◽  
S J Jeon ◽  
...  

This work was undertaken in order to study the developmental competence of nuclear transfer (NT ) into cat embryos using fetal fibroblast and adult skin fibroblast cells as donor nuclei. Oocytes were recovered by mincing the ovaries in Hepes-buffered TCM199 and selecting the cumulus oocyte complexes (COCs) with compact cumulus cell mass and dark color. Homogenous ooplasm was cultured for maturation in TCM199+10% fetal bovine serum (FBS) for 12 h and used as a source of recipient cytoplast for exogenous somatic nuclei. In experiment 1, we evaluated the effect of donor cell type on the reconstruction and development of cloned embryos. Fusion, first cleavage and blastocyst developmental rate were not different between fetal fibroblasts and adult skin cells (71.2 vs 66.8; 71.0 vs 57.6; 4.0 vs 6.1% respectively; P < 0.05). In experiment 2, cloned embryos were surgically transferred into the oviducts of recipient queens. One of the seven recipient queens was delivered naturally of 2 healthy cloned cats and 1 stillborn from fetal fibroblast cells of male origin 65 days after embryo transfer. One of three recipient queens was delivered naturally of 1 healthy cloned cat from adult skin cells of female origin 65 days after embryo transfer. The cloned cats showed genotypes identical to the donor cell lines, indicating that adult somatic cells can be used for feline cloning.


2005 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 182 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Skrzyszowska ◽  
M. Samiec

One of the most important factors that determine the developmental potential of mammalian cloned embryos is the structuro-functional quality of nuclear donor cells. Biochemical changes that are some of the earliest symptoms of apoptosis signal transduction are not reflected in the morphological features of somatic cells. Therefore, an appropriate system of cell selection would enable the sorting of donor nuclei with high morphological and biochemical susceptibility to somatic cloning. The aim of our study was to examine the in vitro developmental competencies of porcine nuclear transfer (NT) embryos reconstructed with fetal fibroblast cells that had been analyzed for apoptosis by live-fluorescent labelling. Frozen/thawed fetal fibroblast cells, which had been in vitro-cultured to a confluent state, were used for analysis. To detect the early apoptotic changes in the fibroblast cells, a single cell suspension of nuclear donor cells was subjected to dyeing with live-DNA green fluorochrome YO-PRO-1. The recipient cells were in vitro-matured oocytes. Maternal chromosomes were removed by a chemically assisted microsurgical technique. Then, single nuclear donor cells were inserted into the perivitelline space of enucleated oocytes. Fibroblast cell-ooplast couplets were simultaneously fused and activated with two consecutive DC pulses of 1.2 kV/cm for 60 μs. Reconstructed embryos were in vitro cultured in 50-μL drops of NCSU-23 medium supplemented with 0.4% BSA-V for 6 to 7 days at 38.5°C in a humidified atmosphere of 5% CO2 and 95% air. The rates of cleavage and development to morula/blastocyst stages were examined on Days 2 and 6/7, respectively. After fluorescent analysis of approximately 50 different random samples collected from the population of fetal fibroblast cells, that had been labelled with YO-PRO-1 dye, it was found that a relatively high proportion of donor cells revealed ultrastructural apoptotic changes. The percentage of late apoptotic cells with advanced morphological transformations was about 40% of the total pool of the fibroblast cells. A total of 262/270 (97.0%) enucleated oocytes were subjected to reconstruction and 141/262 (53.8%) were successfully fused with non-apoptotic nuclear donor cells. Following the simultaneous fusion/activation protocol, reconstituted oocytes were selected for in vitro culture. Out of 262, 133 (50.8%) cultured NT embryos cleaved. The frequencies of cloned embryos that reached the morula and blastocyst stages were 48/133 (36.0%) and 10/133 (7.5%), respectively. In conclusion, morphology is a sufficient selection factor for detection of apoptosis in the cultured (confluent) fetal fibroblast cells to be used for cloning. Moreover, it was found that YO-PRO-1 fluorochrome may be not able to detect the early phases of apoptosis, because only the morphologically abnormal cells emitted the YO-PRO-1-derived fluorescence. This research was supported by the State Committee for Scientific Research as a Solicited Project number PBZ-KBN-084/P06/2002/4.2 from years 2003 to 2005.


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