Restoration of fertility by transplantation of mouse ovary obtained postmortem.
During the course of breeding mice, deaths sometimes occur because of sudden-onset disease or accident. In the case of valuable mutant or transgenic mice, it is of interest to know whether ovarian tissue taken after death can be grafted successfully into ovariectomized female recipients. Such a procedure would be helpful in the maintenance of rare mouse strains. In this study, we examined whether recipient mice became fertile after receiving ovaries taken from transgenic mice at various intervals after death. The transgenic mice used as donors were euthanized by cervical dislocation and left for 1, 2, 4, 6, 12, or 24 h after death at constant temperature (22 +/- 2 degrees C) and humidity (55 +/- 5%). The recipient mice were nontransgenic littermates of the donor mice, and they were mated with proven-fertile males after ovary transplantation. It was confirmed that the progeny carried the transgene by means of polymerase chain reaction analysis. Ovaries taken at 1 or 2 h after death could maintain fertility. However, mice receiving ovaries taken at 4, 6, 12, or 24 h after death failed to conceive. We have shown here that ovaries taken from dead mice within 2 h after death can be transplanted successfully.
Takahashi
E
E
Laboratory of Seeds Finding Technology, Eisai Co. Ltd., 5-1-3, Tokodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 300-2635, Japan.
Nagasu
T
T
D000822:Animal Husbandry; D000818:Animals; D000830:Animals, Laboratory; D005260:Female; D007247:Infertility, Female / Q000628:therapy / Q000662:veterinary*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D010053:Ovary / Q000637:transplantation*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011180:Postmortem Changes; D013997:Time Factors