Birth of mice after nuclear transfer by electrofusion using tail tip cells

Abstract

Mice have been successfully cloned from cumulus cells, fibroblast cells, embryonic stem cells, and immature Sertoli cells only after direct injection of their nuclei into enucleated oocytes. This technical feature of mouse nuclear transfer differentiates it from that used in domestic species, where electrofusion is routinely used for nuclear transfer. To examine whether nuclear transfer by electrofusion can be applied to somatic cell cloning in the mouse, we electrofused tail tip fibroblast cells with enucleated oocytes, and then assessed the subsequent in vitro and in vivo development of the reconstructed embryos. The rate of successful nuclear transfer (fusion and nuclear formation) was 68.8% (753/1094) and the rate of development into morulae/blastocysts was 40.8% (260/637). After embryo transfer, seven (six males and one female; 2.5% per transfer) normal fetuses were obtained at 17.5-21.5 dpc. These rates of development in vitro and in vivo are not significantly different from those after cloning by injection (44.7% to morulae/blastocysts and 4.8% to term). These results indicate that nuclear transfer by electrofusion is practical for mouse somatic cell cloning and provide an alternative method when injection of donor nuclei into recipient oocytes is technically difficult.