scholarly journals 65 PRODUCTION OF PORCINE NUCLEAR TRANSFER EMBRYOS USING FETAL FIBROBLAST CELLS ANALYZED ON APOPTOSIS

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.

2008 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 418-432 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhisheng Zhong ◽  
Yanhong Hao ◽  
Rongfeng Li ◽  
Lee Spate ◽  
David Wax ◽  
...  

AbstractWe previously reported that translocation of mitochondria from the oocyte cortex to the perinuclear area indicates positive developmental potential that was reduced in porcine somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) embryos compared to in vitro–fertilized (IVF) embryos (Katayama, M., Zhong, Z.-S., Lai, L., Sutovsky, P., Prather, R.S. & Schatten, H. (2006). Dev Biol299, 206–220.). The present study is focused on distribution of donor cell mitochondria in intraspecies (pig oocytes; pig fetal fibroblast cells) and interspecies (pig oocytes; mouse fibroblast cells) reconstructed embryos by using either pig fibroblasts with mitochondria-stained MitoTracker CMXRos or YFP-mitochondria 3T3 cells (pPhi-Yellow-mito) as donor cells. Transmission electron microscopy was employed for ultrastructural analysis of pig oocyte and donor cell mitochondria. Our results revealed donor cell mitochondrial clusters around the donor nucleus that gradually dispersed into the ooplasm at 3 h after SCNT. Donor-derived mitochondria distributed into daughter blastomeres equally (82.8%) or unequally (17.2%) at first cleavage. Mitochondrial morphology was clearly different between donor cells and oocytes in which various complex shapes and configurations were seen. These data indicate that (1) unequal donor cell mitochondria distribution is observed in 17.2% of embryos, which may negatively influence development; and (2) complex mitochondrial morphologies are observed in IVF and SCNT embryos, which may influence mitochondrial translocation and affect development.


2007 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 157
Author(s):  
J. H. Quan ◽  
H. B. Seok ◽  
S. K. Kim

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of culture medium, culture duration, and atmospheric condition on the fusion and in vitro development rates of nuclear transfer porcine embryos constructed by the microinjection of fetal fibroblast cells into in vitro-matured oocytes. Single fetal donor cells were deposited into the perivitelline space of enucleated oocytes, followed by electrical fusion and activation. Activated embryos were cultured in NCSU-23 medium supplemented with 5% FBS, at 38.5�C for 6 to 8 days in 5% CO2 and air. In Experiment 1, the fusion rates of nuclear transfer embryos did not differ from those of fetal fibroblast cells incubated in 5% FBS + NCSU-23 or 5% FBS + TL-HEPES medium, nor did fusion rates of donor cells differ among 1–8-h incubation durations. Fusion rates for the 4 treatment subclasses ranged from 72.1% to 78.0%. In Experiment 2, pre-synchronization in medium containing 0.1 �g mL-1 Hoechst(H) 33342 increased during the period from 0 and 8 h of culture up to 15 h, the end of the synchronization period, at which time there was a significantly increased percentage of porcine fibroblast cells at the G2/M stage (12.4%, 17.5%, and 47.6%; P < 0.01). Neither an increase in the concentration of H 33342 (0.2–1.6 �g mL-1) nor a longer exposure time (12 h, 18 h, and 24 h) increased the proportion of porcine G2/M fibroblasts. In Experiment 3, fusion rates did not differ significantly between nuclear transfer embryos constructed using donor cells cultured in 5% FBS + NCSU-23 medium for 1–2, 6–8, or 12–14 days (60.0%, 73.3%, and 62.5%, respectively). The cleavage rate for nuclear transplant embryos using fetal fibroblast cells cultured for 1–2 days was 44.0%, which was significantly less than the 56.7% and 50.0% for 6–8 or 12–14 days of culture, respectively (P < 0.05). In Experiment 4, the proportions of nuclear transfer embryos that developed to the e2 cell and to the blastocyst stage were not affected significantly by culture medium (5% FBS + NCSU-23 or 5% FBS + TL-HEPES) or by O2 concentration during culture (5% vs. 10%). The developmental rates to the e2 cell stage ranged from 65.9% to 70.1%, and those to the blastocyst stage ranged from 9.8% to 12.5%, for the 4 treatment subclasses. Blastocyst rate was highest for embryos cultured in 5% FBS + NCSU-23 under a gas atmosphere of 5% O2 in air.


2007 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 159
Author(s):  
M. Samiec ◽  
M. Skrzyszowska ◽  
M. Bochenek ◽  
D. Lipinski ◽  
R. Slomski

The important factor that determines the development of mammalian cloned embryos is structuro-functional quality of nuclear donor cells. Analysis of nuclear DNA (nDNA) content of somatic cells undergoing apoptosis has become one of the most common methods for single-parameter flow cytometric measurement of this process. Apoptosis assessment is performed by quantification of hypodiploid cells. The aim of our study was to examine the in vitro developmental potential of porcine nuclear transfer (NT) embryos reconstituted with non-apoptotic fetal fibroblast cells expressing the eGFP transgene. The nuclear donor cells were derived from cell line populations whose representative random samples had been analyzed on both cell cycle and apoptosis through non-vital nDNA fluorescent dyeing and flow cytometry (FACS). Frozen-thawed fibroblast cells, which had been cultured up to a total confluency after 2–4 passages, were used for the diagnostics. The cells were fixed in ice-cold 70% ethanol. Then, the fetal fibroblasts were exposed to nDNA extraction buffer for 5 min at room temperature, and incubated in DNA staining solution (propidium iodide and RNAse) for 30 min. After fluorescent labeling, the cells were analyzed in the flow cytometer by reading nDNA fluorescence in the red band. In vitro-matured oocytes were the source of recipient cells. Fibroblast cell–ooplast couplets were simultaneously fused and activated. Reconstructed embryos were cultured in NCSU-23/BSA/FBS medium for 6–7 days. The rates of cleavage and development to morula/blastocyst stages were examined on Days 2 and 6/7, respectively. FACS analysis revealed that, out of all of the diagnosed fetal fibroblast cells, 54.7% were cycling, and up to 45.3% were late-apoptotic. In turn, from among the normal (i.e. non-apoptotic) cells, 82.2% were at G0/G1 stages of cell cycle, 17.0% at the S stage, and 0.8% at G2/M stages. A total of 150 enucleated oocytes were successfully fused with non-apoptotic transgenic nuclear donor cells. Out of 150 cultured NT embryos, 123 (82.0%) were cleaved. The frequencies of cloned embryos that reached the morula and blastocyst stages yielded 53/150 (35.3%) and 37/150 (24.7%), respectively. In conclusion, the FACS analysis for mitotic cycle of 100%-confluent transgenic fetal fibroblasts confirmed the high efficiency of the cell cycle synchronization at G0/G1 phases. However, a contact inhibition method induced the high frequency of late-apoptotic cells. Moreover, the relatively high percentage of NT blastocysts was developed from oocytes reconstructed with eGFP transgenic fetal fibroblast cells. This research was supported by the State Committee for Scientific Research as a Solicited Project number PBZ-MIN-005/P04/2002/6 from year 2003 to year 2006.


2007 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 168
Author(s):  
V. Zakhartchenko ◽  
F. Yang ◽  
R. Hao ◽  
E. Wolf

Epigenetic status of the genome of a donor nucleus is likely to be associated with the developmental potential of cloned embryos produced by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). Prevention of epigenetic errors by manipulation of the epigenetic status of donor cells is expected to result in improvement of cloning efficiency. In this study, we transferred cultured rabbit cumulus cells (RCC) and fetal fibroblasts (RFF) from genetically marked rabbits (Ali/Bas) into metaphase II (MII) oocytes and analyzed the levels of histone H3K9 acetylation in donor cells and cloned embryos. We also assessed the correlation between the histone acetylation status of donor cells and cloned embryos and their developmental potential. To test whether alteration of the histone acetylation status affects development of cloned embryos, we treated donor cells with sodium butyrate (NaBu), a histone deacetylase inhibitor. Further, we tried to improve cloning efficiency by chimeric complementation of cloned embryos with one or two blastomeres from in vitro-fertilized or parthenogenetic embryos. Histone acetylation in donor cells and cloned embryos was detected by anti-acH3K9 antibody using Western immunoblot analysis or immunochemistry, respectively. Data were analyzed by chi-square (developmental rates) or Student-Newman-Keuls (histone acetylation) test. The levels of acetylated histone H3K9 were higher in RCCs than in RFFs (P < 0.05). Although the type of donor cells did not affect development to blastocyst, after transfer into recipients, RCC-cloned embryos induced a higher initial pregnancy rate as compared to RFF-cloned embryos (40% vs. 20%; P < 0.05). However, almost all pregnancies with either type of cloned embryos were lost by the middle of gestation and only one fully developed; a live RCC-derived rabbit was obtained. Treatment of RFFs with NaBu significantly (P < 0.05) increased the level of histone H3K9/14 acetylation and the proportion of nuclear transfer embryos developing to blastocyst (49% vs. 33% with non-treated RFF; P < 0.05). The distribution of signals for acH3K9 in either group of cloned embryos did not resemble that in in vivo-fertilized embryos, suggesting that reprogramming of this epigenetic mark is aberrant in cloned rabbit embryos and cannot be corrected by treatment of donor cells with NaBu. Aggregation of embryos cloned from NaBu-treated RFFs with blastomeres from in vivo-derived embryos improved development to blastocyst, but no cloned offspring were obtained. Two live cloned rabbits were produced from this donor cell type only after aggregation of cloned embryos with a parthenogenetic blastomere. Our study demonstrates that the levels of histone acetylation in donor cells and cloned embryos correlate with their developmental potential and can be a useful epigenetic mark to predict efficiency of SCNT rabbits. This work was supported by the Bayerische Forschungsstiftung and by Therapeutic Human Polyclonals, Inc.


2009 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 125
Author(s):  
M. Skrzyszowska ◽  
M. Samiec ◽  
W. Mlodawska ◽  
J. Kochan ◽  
A. Okolski ◽  
...  

The purpose of our study was to determine the in vitro developmental competences of equine NT embryos reconstructed with adult dermal fibroblast cells. Frozen/thawed fibroblast cells, whose mitotic cycle had been synchronized at G1/G0 stages through a contact inhibition of their migration and proliferative activity under total confluency, were used as a source of nuclear donor cells in the somatic cell cloning procedure. In vitro-matured oocytes were used as recipient cells for fibroblast cell nuclei. The compact cumulus–oocyte complexes (cpCOCs) were collected from abattoir-derived mare ovaries and selected for in vitro maturation. The cpCOCs were cultured in TC-199 medium supplemented with 5 mU mL–1 follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS) and 75 μg mL–1 kanamycin monosulfate (kanamycin A) for 30 h at 38.2°C in a 100% water-saturated atmosphere of 5% CO2 and 95% air. Cumulus-denuded in vitro-matured oocytes were incubated in the maturation medium supplemented with 0.4 μg mL–1 demecolcine for 40 min. The treated oocytes were subsequently transferred into TC-199 medium containing 4 mg mL–1 BSA-V and 5 μg mL–1 cytochalasin B. Metaphase chromosomes, which had been allocated into the chemically-induced protrusion of the plasma membrane, were removed microsurgically. The chemically-assisted enucleation was accomplished by gently aspirating the ooplasmic cone, which contained the condensed chromosome mass, with the aid of a beveled micropipette. The single nuclear donor cells were inserted into perivitelline space of previously enucleated oocytes. Fibroblast cell-ooplast couplets were fused with two consecutive DC pulses of 2.4 kV cm–1 for 30 μs. After a 1.5-h delay, nuclear transfer-derived oocytes were chemically activated by exposure to 5 μm L–1 calcium ionomycin for 5 to 7 min, followed by their incubation in B2 medium with addition of 2 mm L–1 6-dimethylaminopurine (6-DMAP) for 4 h. Reconstructed embryos were in vitro cultured in B2 medium for 2 days. Afterwards, cleaved embryos were co-cultured with Vero cells in B2 medium supplemented with 10% FBS for 5 to 6 days up to morula/blastocyst stages. From among 88 in vitro cultured cpCOCs, 55 (62.5%) acquired meiotic nuclear and cytoplasmic maturity state after reaching the Metaphase II stage. A total of 55 enucleated oocytes underwent reconstruction and 44/55 (80.0%) were successfully fused with nuclear donor cells. Out of 44 cultured NT embryos, 21 (47.7%) were cleaved. The frequencies of cloned embryos that reached the morula and blastocyst stages were 6/44 (13.6%) and 3/44 (6.8%), respectively. In conclusion, the cell nuclei of in vitro cultured adult dermal fibroblast cells, which had undergone the contact inhibition, were able to direct the preimplantation development of equine cloned embryos to morula and blastocyst stages. This work was supported by the Scientific Net of Animal Reproduction Biotechnology.


2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 275-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcin Samiec ◽  
Maria Skrzyszowska ◽  
Jolanta Opiela

Abstract Somatic cell cloning efficiency is determined by many factors. One of the most important factors is the structure-functional quality of nuclear donor cells. Morphologic criteria that have been used to date for qualitative evaluation of somatic cells may be insufficient for practical application in the cloning. Biochemical and biophysical changes that are one of the earliest symptoms in the transduction of apoptotic signal may be not reflected in the morphologic changes of somatic cells. For this reason, adult cutaneous or foetal fibroblast cells that, in our experiments, provided the source of genomic DNA for the cloning procedure had been previously analysed for biochemical and biophysical proapoptotic alterations with the use of live-DNA (YO-PRO-1) and plasma membrane (Annexin V-eGFP) fluorescent markers. In Groups IA and IB, the generation of nucleartransferred (NT) embryos using non-apoptotic/non-necrotic contact-inhibited or serum-starved adult cutaneous fibroblast cells yielded the morula and blastocyst formation rates of 125/231 (54.1%) and 68/231 (29.4%) or 99/237 (41.8%) and 43/237 (18.1%), respectively. In Groups IIA and IIB, the frequencies of embryos reconstituted with non-apoptotic/non-necrotic contact-inhibited or serum-starved foetal fibroblast cell nuclei that reached the morula and blastocyst stages were 171/245 (69.8%) and 97/245 (39.6%) or 132/227 (58.1%) and 63/227 (27.8%), respectively. In conclusion, contact inhibition of migration and proliferative activity among the subpopulations of adult dermal fibroblast cells and foetal fibroblast cells resulted in considerably higher morula and blastocyst formation rates of in vitro cultured cloned pig embryos compared to serum starvation of either type of fibroblast cell line. Moreover, irrespective of the methods applied to artificially synchronize the mitotic cycle of nuclear donor cells at the G0/G1 phases, developmental abilities to reach the morula/blastocyst stages were significantly higher for porcine NT embryos that had been reconstructed with non-apoptotic/non-necrotic foetal fibroblast cells than those for NT embryos that had been reconstructed with non-apoptotic/non-necrotic adult dermal fibroblast cells. To our knowledge, the generation of cloned pig embryos using abattoir-derived oocytes receiving cell nuclei descended from contact-inhibited or serum-deprived somatic cells undergoing comprehensive vital diagnostics for the absence of biochemical and biophysical proapoptotic alterations within their plasmalemmas has not been reported so far.


Reproduction ◽  
2001 ◽  
pp. 925-932 ◽  
Author(s):  
X Li ◽  
LH Morris ◽  
WR Allen

The influence of co-culture with either oviduct epithelial cells or fetal fibroblast cells on in vitro maturation of equine oocytes and their potential for development to blastocysts and fetuses after intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) was investigated. The oocytes were obtained from ovaries from abattoirs and were matured in vitro for 28-30 h in TCM-199 only, or in TCM-199 co-culture with oviduct epithelial cells or fetal fibroblast cells. Metaphase II oocytes were subjected to ICSI with an ionomycin-treated spermatozoon. The injected oocytes were cultured for 7-9 days in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium. Morphologically normal early blastocysts were transferred to the uteri of recipient mares. Nuclear maturation rates and the rates of cleavage to the two-cell stage for injected oocytes were similar in the groups of oocytes that were matured in TCM-199 (49 and 63%), in co-culture with oviduct epithelial cells (53 and 65%) or in co-culture with fetal fibroblasts (51 and 57%). There were no significant differences in the proportions of blastocysts that developed from the two-cell embryos derived from oocytes matured by co-culture with either oviduct epithelial cells (30%) or fetal fibroblasts (17%). However, significantly higher proportions of blastocysts were produced from both these co-culture groups than from the groups of oocytes matured in TCM-199 only (P < 0.05). Six of the blastocysts that had developed from oocytes co-cultured with oviduct epithelial cells were transferred into recipient mares and four pregnancies resulted. These results demonstrate a beneficial influence of co-culture with either oviduct epithelial cells or fetal fibroblasts for maturation of oocytes in vitro.


2007 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 152
Author(s):  
K. Naruse ◽  
Y. M. Shin ◽  
Y. S. Quan ◽  
C. S. Park ◽  
D. I. Jin

Streptolysin O (SLO) is known to bacterial proteins that form very large pores in the plasma membrane of mammalian cells. SLO has been used in the delivery of proteins into living cells following permeabilization. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of permeabilization of donor cells using SLO on in vitro development of porcine reconstructed embryos. Porcine fetal fibroblast cells were treated with Ca2+-free DMEM medium containing 200 ng mL−1 of SLO for 50 min before or after trypsinization. Those SLO-treated donor cells were injected into enucleated oocytes, fused with 2 DC pulses (1.2 kV cm−1, 30 µs) and cultured in procine zygote medium-3 (PZM-3) for 6 days. In vitro development of the reconstructed embryos was examined. SLO treatment after trypsinzation significantly increased (P &lt; 0.05) the percentage of fusion rates and blastocyst developmental rates compared with that before trypsinization or in the nontreated group. Additionally there were no significant differences in fusion rates, cleavage rates, blastocyst developmental rates, and total cell number of blastocysts between the SLO-treated group before trypsinzation and the nontreated group. Next, after the trypsinzation treatment, fetal fibroblast cells were incubated in Ca2+-free DMEM containing 200 ng mL−1 of SLO for 0, 30, 50, and 70 min and SLO-treated donor cells were also tested for fusion rate and developmental capability following reconstruction. The 50-min group of SLO-treated cells significantly increased (P &lt; 0.05) the percentage of fusion rates (90.6 vs. 77.6, 85.4, and 78.5%) and blastocyst developmental rates (24.7 vs. 13.5, 11.2, and 13.5%) compared with the other groups (Table 1). However, there was no significant difference in the total cell number of blastocysts among SLO-treated groups. Although cleavage rates the in SLO-treated groups were not significantly different from those of the nontreated group, there the cleavage rates were slightly in SLO-treated groups. In conclusion, permeabilization of porcine fetal fibroblast cells with SLO improves the fusion rates and in vitro development of porcine reconstructed embryos. Table 1.Effects of SLO treatment of fetal fibroblasts by different exposure times on in vitro development of porcine reconstructed embryos


2010 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 251
Author(s):  
J.-G. Yoo ◽  
M.-R. Park ◽  
H.-N. Kim ◽  
Y.-G. Ko ◽  
J.-Y. Lee ◽  
...  

Instead of surgical embryo transfer (ET) in the pig, nonsurgical ET is a hopeful method to increase the efficiency of biotechnology applications such as cloning and transgenesis. In this study, we conducted surgical and nonsurgical ET methods after somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) with MHC miniature pig cells to find out the best condition for production of cloned miniature pigs. Ovaries were obtained from prepubertal crossbred gilts at a local slaughterhouse. Oocytes were matured for 40 to 44 h at 38.5°C under 5% CO2 in air. As donor cells, fibroblast cells were cultured from ear skin tissue of 8-month-old MHC inbred miniature pigs. Fibroblast cells were cultured, passaged (3 to 8 passages), and used as donor cells for NT. After the enucleation and injection process, eggs were held in TCM-199. For fusion, 2 DC pulses of 1.2 kV cm-1 were applied for 30 μs. Both IVF and SCNT embryos were cultured in PZM-3 medium. After IVF, 84.9% (411/484) of embryos cleaved and 27.3% (132/484) of embryos reached the blastocyst stage. In the SCNT group, 80.8% (231/286) of eggs fused and 25.9% (60/286) of embryos developed to blastocysts. For surgical ET, approximately 200 SCNT embryos were transferred into oviducts of each synchronized recipient. For nonsurgical ET, embryos were cultured in PZM-3 for 6 days after SCNT and IVF, and then good quality blastocyst stage embryos were selected for ET. The pregnancy status of recipients at Day 30 was determined by ultrasound scanning. Using Day 30 of gestation as an endpoint, the nonsurgical ET method (47.3%, 9/19) had a similar pregnancy rate as the surgical ET method (56.5%, 13/23). Further study is needed to optimize the nonsurgical ET method especially for SCNT eggs. This work received grant support from the Agenda Program (no. 200901FHT010305535), Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea.


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