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Updated: Jun 27, 2026
14:17
Nuclear Transfer into Mouse Oocytes
Published on: November 30, 2006
Reprogramming donor cells with oocyte extracts improves in vitro development of nuclear transfer embryos
Shuang Tang1, Yongsheng Wang, Dong Zhang
1Institute of Biotechnology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China.
Animal Reproduction Science
|December 17, 2008
Summary
Pretreating donor cells with mature oocyte extracts significantly improved the development of cloned bovine embryos. This suggests synchronizing donor nuclei with recipient cytoplasm enhances embryo cloning success.
Area of Science:
- Reproductive Biology
- Developmental Biology
- Cellular Reprogramming
Background:
- In vitro embryo production and cloning are crucial for livestock improvement.
- Donor cell reprogramming is a key factor influencing the success of somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT).
- Oocyte extracts contain factors that can induce cellular reprogramming.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of oocyte extract pretreatment on bovine fibroblast donor cells.
- To evaluate the effect of immature, mature, and parthenogenetic oocyte extracts on in vitro development of cloned embryos.
- To determine if reprogramming capacity correlates with improved cloned embryo development.
Main Methods:
- Bovine fibroblasts were treated with immature, mature, or parthenogenetic oocyte extracts.
- Nuclear transfer was performed using treated fibroblasts as donor cells.
- Reprogramming markers (Oct4 expression, global deacetylation) were assessed.
- In vitro development of cloned embryos to the blastocyst stage was evaluated.
Main Results:
- Oocyte extracts demonstrated reprogramming capacity, evidenced by Oct4 expression and global deacetylation.
- While all extracts showed reprogramming potential, only mature oocyte extract pretreatment led to improved blastocyst development.
- Cloned embryos derived from mature oocyte extract-treated cells showed enhanced quality and developmental rates.
Conclusions:
- Pretreatment of donor cells with mature oocyte extract significantly improves in vitro development of cloned bovine embryos.
- Reprogramming donor nuclei to a state synchronized with the recipient cytoplasm before SCNT is beneficial.
- Mature oocyte extracts may contain specific factors crucial for successful embryonic reprogramming and development.
Related Concept Videos
01:24Methods of Nuclear Reprogramming
Nuclear reprogramming is a process of transforming one cell type into an unrelated cell type by epigenetic changes that alter the cell’s original gene expression pattern. Such epigenetic changes force cells to express a different set of genes, which play a significant role in inducing transformation into other cell types. Nuclear reprogramming offers applications in reproductive cloning for livestock propagation and regenerative medicine — developing patient-specific cells for injury repair.
01:14Introduction to Nuclear Reprogramming
Nuclear reprogramming is the process of switching gene expression of one cell type to that of another cell type, usually from a differentiated cell state to an undifferentiated cell state. Differentiation occurs during processes such as development and morphogenesis, tissue regeneration, and malignancy. Cells can also be artificially induced to reprogram their gene expression by techniques such as nuclear transfer, induced pluripotency, and cell fusion. Such techniques have many applications in...