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Vertebrate reproductive science and technology
RESEARCH ARTICLE

32 EFFICIENCY OF FEMALE-DERIVED DONOR CELLS ON HIGH POSTNATAL SURVIVAL IN PIG CLONING

S.K. Cho A , M.R. Park A , D.N. Kwon A , E.K. Lee A , S.J. Kang A , S.Y. Lee A , Y.J. Choi A , J.Y. Park A , W.J. Son B and J.H. Kim A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Division of Applied Life Science, College of Agriculture

B College of Veterinary Medicine, Gyeongsang National University, Chinju, 660-701, South Korea. Email: skcho67@hotmail.com

Reproduction, Fertility and Development 17(2) 166-166 https://doi.org/10.1071/RDv17n2Ab32
Submitted: 1 August 2004  Accepted: 1 October 2004   Published: 1 January 2005

Abstract

The present study was conducted to investigate the developmental competence of male and female somatic cell derived nuclear transfer (NT) porcine embryos and also the production and survival efficiency of cloned male and female piglets. Maturation of porcine COCs was accomplished by incubation in NCSU-23 medium supplemented with 0.6 mM cysteine, 10% porcine follicular fluid, 1 mM dibutyryl cyclic adenosine monophosphate, and 0.1 IU/mL human menopausal gonadotrophin for 20 h and then culture without dbcAMP and hMG for another 18 to 24 h. Fetal cells were isolated from a male fetus and two female fetuses, and cultured in ES-DMEM medium containing 10% FCS. Enucleated oocytes were fused with fetal fibroblasts (passage 4 to 15). Reconstructed embryos were cultured in NCSU-23 with 4 mg/mL BSA under mineral oil at 39°C in 5% CO2 in air for up to 6 days. NT eggs that had been activated with electric pulses and cultured for 1 or 2 days were transported to the experimental station in modified NCSU-23 with antibiotics. NT embryos were surgically transferred into the oviducts of recipients between Day 27 and Day 30; pregnancy was determined by ultrasound. The potential of NT embryos to develop into blastocysts was not different among donor cells of different origins. However, the mean cell number of in vivo female and male blastocysts (83.8 ± 46.2 to 99.2 ± 55.7) was higher than in in vitro culture of NT groups (31.4 ± 8.29 to 33.2 ± 10.15). A total of 11,535 NT embryos (1- to 8-cell stage) were surgically transferred into 66 surrogate gilts. Among fourteen pregnant gilts, four recipients aborted during the period of conception. Five pregnant gilts delivered fifteen female piglets, 1.28 ± 0.33 kg (0.48∼1.83 kg) in female piglets and 0.84±0.25 kg (0.45∼1.25 kg) in male piglets. Nine live cloned female (60.0%) and four male piglets (18.2%) were produced. According to these results, survival rates and birth weights of female cloned piglets were higher than those of cloned male piglets (P < 0.05). This study suggests that use of female, compared with male, fetal fibroblast cells as nuclear donors may increase cloning outcomes.

This work was supported in part by a grant program from RDA(Biogreen21) and Cho-A, Republic of Korea.