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Phenotype of cloned mice: development, behavior, and physiology
Kellie L K Tamashiro1, Teruhiko Wakayama, Yukiko Yamazaki
1Department of Psychiatry and Neuroscience Program, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio 45267-0559, USA.
Experimental Biology and Medicine (Maywood, N.J.)
|November 12, 2003
Summary
Somatic cell cloning in mice produced offspring with normal development, behavior, and longevity. However, cloned mice exhibited obesity due to increased body fat, despite normal feeding behaviors.
Area of Science:
- Reproductive Biology
- Genetics
- Animal Science
Background:
- Somatic cell cloning offers potential applications in research, medicine, and agriculture.
- Mammalian cloning using somatic cells, first achieved in sheep, has since been applied to various species.
- Assessing the long-term consequences of cloning on offspring is crucial before widespread adoption.
Purpose of the Study:
- To comprehensively evaluate the development, behavior, physiology, and longevity of mice cloned from adult cumulus cells.
- To compare cloned mice with control groups derived from naturally fertilized embryos subjected to similar in vitro procedures.
- To identify potential long-term effects and health implications associated with somatic cell cloning in mammals.
Main Methods:
- Generation of cloned B6C3F1 female mice using adult cumulus cells.
- Establishment of control groups from naturally fertilized embryos with identical in vitro handling.
- Assessment of developmental milestones, behavioral parameters (activity, motor skills, learning, memory), body weight, body composition (fat content), metabolic markers (leptin, insulin), and longevity.
Main Results:
- Cloned mice achieved developmental milestones comparable to controls.
- Behavioral assessments revealed similar activity levels, motor abilities, and cognitive functions between clones and controls.
- Cloned mice showed increased adult body weight, primarily due to higher body fat, leading to obesity (hyperleptinemia, hyperinsulinemia), despite normal food intake and hypersensitive leptin/melanocortin signaling.
- Longevity of cloned mice was comparable to established data for the strain, with typical causes of death.
Conclusions:
- Somatic cell cloning in mice results in offspring with normal development, behavior, and lifespan.
- Cloned mice develop obesity in adulthood, characterized by increased adiposity and associated metabolic changes, independent of hyperphagia.
- These findings provide critical long-term data on the health and physiological outcomes of mammalian somatic cell cloning.