Roles of genes regulated by two paternally methylated imprinted regions on chromosomes 7 and 12 in mouse ontogeny.
We studied the longevity of mice produced without sperm using the genomes of oocytes that are already committed to a germline cell lineage. The first sperm-free mouse "KAGUYA", which we term 'bi-maternal mouse', was born on 3 February, 2003. Bi-maternal embryos were generated using 2 sets of female genomes--one derived from fully grown oocytes from normal adults and the other from non-growing oocytes from newborn pups. These genomes were combined by nuclear transfer. We refined the technique for generating bi-maternal mice and found that genetic manipulations in only 2 regions--the imprinting centres of Igf2-H19 and Dlk1-Gtl2--on chromosomes 7 and 12 of the newborn pups allowed us to generate bi-maternal mice at a high rate. Studying bi-maternal conceptuses and mice provides further insight into the mechanisms by which paternally methylated imprinted genes regulate mammalian ontogenesis.
Laboratory of Animal Breeding and Reproduction, Graduate School of Agriculture, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-8589, Japan. k-hara@anim.agr.hokudai.ac.jp
Manabu
M
Kawahara
Tomohiro
T
Kono
D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D033481:Chromosomes, Mammalian / Q000378:metabolism*; D019175:DNA Methylation; D047108:Embryonic Development; D005260:Female; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D018392:Genomic Imprinting; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D053652:Nuclear Transfer Techniques; D010929:Placentation; D011247:Pregnancy