Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) offers great potential for developing better animal models of human disease. The domestic ferret (Mustela putorius furo) is an ideal animal model for influenza infections and potentially other human respiratory diseases such as cystic fibrosis, where mouse models have failed to reproduce the human disease phenotype. Here, we report the successful production ...

Many of the developmental anomalies observed in cloned animals are related to fetal and placental overgrowth, a phenomenon known as the “large offspring syndrome” (LOS) in ruminants. It has been hypothesized that the epigenetic control of imprinted genes, i.e. genes that are expressed in a parental-specific manner, is at the root of LOS. Our recent research has focused on understanding the epig...

High rate of fetal mortality in ruminant somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) pregnancies is due, at least in part, to immune-mediated abortion of fetuses. In the present study, goat uterine leukocytes were isolated by Dolichos biflorus agglutinin (DBA) coated magnetic beads, and with majority being were CD56+CD16- in phenotype with low levels of perforin and Granzyme B expression. The response...

Background: Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) provides an appealing alternative for the conservation and improvement of genetic material of unique and endangered species. An important prerequisite for successful SCNT is the availability of good quality donor cells, as normal embryo development is dependent upon proper reprogramming of the donor genome so that embryonic genes can be appropria...

Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), the technique commonly known as cloning, permits transformation of a somatic cell into an undifferentiated zygote with the potential to develop into a newborn animal (i.e., a clone). In somatic cells, chromatin is programmed to repress most genes and express some, depending on the tissue. It is evident that the enucleated oocyte provides the environment in ...

Cell-mediated transgenesis, based on somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), provides the opportunity to shape the genetic make-up of cattle. Bovine primary fetal fibroblasts, commonly used cells for SCNT, have a limited lifespan, and complex genetic modifications that require sequential transfections can be challenging time and cost-wise. To overcome these limitations, SCNT is frequently used to...

Xist is an X-linked gene responsible for cis induction of X chromosome inactivation. Studies have indicated that Xist is abnormally activated in the active X chromosome in cloned mouse embryos due to loss of the maternal Xist-repressing imprint following enucleation during somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). Inhibition of Xist expression by injecting small interfering RNA (siRNA) has been sho...

Nuclear reprogramming, the conversion of the epigenome of a differentiated cell to one that is similar to the undifferentiated embryonic state, can be facilitated by several methods, such as nuclear transfer, cell fusion, use of embryonic stem cell extracts, and more recently, by the introduction of exogenous transcription factors. Amongst these various strategies, somatic cell nuclear transfer...

In vitro embryo production is important for research in animal reproduction, embryo transfer, transgenics, and cloning. Yet, in vitro-fertilized (IVF) embryos are generally developmentally delayed and are inferior to in vivo-derived (IVV) embryos; this discrepancy is likely a result of aberrant gene expression. Transcription of three genes implicated to be important in normal preimplantation em...

Background Despite successful cloning of many mammalian species, the cloning efficiency is extremely low compared to that of IVF raising the possibility of the existence of epigenetic barrier preventing successful cloning. MaterialsAndMethods Using comparative transcriptome analysis comparing transcriptomes of IVF and SCNT embryos and that of donor cells, we identified epigenetic barrier and fi...