Protocol for the production of viable bimaternal mouse embryos.
A reliable nuclear transfer method was first reported in 1983; it provided definite evidence that parthenogenetic embryos are lethal at early postimplantation in mammals. Subsequently, nuclear transfer has been extensively used as an important and versatile tool for investigating embryo and somatic-cell cloning and nucleo-cytoplasmic interactions. Further development of this technique has enabled the generation of bimaternal embryos containing two haploid sets of maternal genomes from female germ cells of different origins. By using a 2-d nuclear transfer system for oocyte reconstruction, viable mice can be produced solely from maternal genomes, without the participation of the paternal genome. This oocyte reconstruction system, as described in this protocol, could provide valuable guidelines for exploring the potential endowments of gametes and for conferring novel properties to them.
Kawahara
Manabu
M
Department of BioScience, Tokyo University of Agriculture, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 156-8502, Japan.
Obata
Yayoi
Y
Sotomaru
Yusuke
Y
Shimozawa
Nobuhiro
N
Bao
Siqin
S
Tsukadaira
Toshitaka
T
Fukuda
Atsushi
A
Kono
Tomohiro
T
D000818:Animals; D004624:Embryo Transfer; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian; D047108:Embryonic Development / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008811:Mice, Inbred DBA; D008846:Micromanipulation / Q000379:methods; D053652:Nuclear Transfer Techniques; D009865:Oocytes / Q000502:physiology; D035845:Research Embryo Creation / Q000379:methods*