Development of intergeneric and intrageneric somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) cat embryos and the determination of telomere length in cloned offspring

Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) holds potential as a useful tool for agricultural and biomedical applications. In vitro development of marbled cat intergeneric SCNT reconstructed into domestic cat cytoplast revealed that cloned, marbled cat embryo development was blocked at the morula stage. No...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inCellular reprogramming Vol. 14; no. 1; p. 79
Main Authors Imsoonthornruksa, Sumeth, Sangmalee, Anawat, Srirattana, Kanokwan, Parnpai, Rangsun, Ketudat-Cairns, Mariena
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.02.2012
Subjects
Animals
Cats - embryology
Cats - genetics
Cloning, Organism - methods
DNA, Intergenic - genetics
Embryo Transfer
Embryo, Mammalian - ultrastructure
Embryonic Development - genetics
Female
Fibroblasts - cytology
In Vitro Techniques
Male
Models, Animal
Nuclear Transfer Techniques
Oocytes - cytology
Pregnancy
Pregnancy Outcome
Telomere - ultrastructure
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Summary:Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) holds potential as a useful tool for agricultural and biomedical applications. In vitro development of marbled cat intergeneric SCNT reconstructed into domestic cat cytoplast revealed that cloned, marbled cat embryo development was blocked at the morula stage. No pregnancies resulted from the transfer of one- to eight-cell stage embryos into domestic cat surrogate mothers. This suggested that abnormalities occurred in the cloned marbled cat embryos, which may be associated with incomplete reprogramming during early embryo development. Two pregnancies were established in surrogate mothers that received cloned domestic cat embryos, but SCNT offspring developed abnormally. Some specific phenotypes that were observed included incomplete abdominal wall disclosure, improper fetal development. In addition, some of the fetuses were mummified or stillbirths. The two live births died within 5 days. Telomere lengths of cloned kittens as determined by qualtitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) were inconclusive: some were found to be shorter, longer, or the same as donor control cells. Our findings support the hypothesis that telomere lengths do not govern the health of these cloned animals. A lack of complete reprogramming may lead to developmental failure and the abnormalities observed in cloned offspring.
ISSN:2152-4998
DOI:10.1089/cell.2011.0054