Cloned Transgenic Offspring Resulting from Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer in the Goat: Oocytes Derived from Both Follicle-Stimulating Hormone-Stimulated and Nonstimulated Abattoir-Derived Ovaries

The use of nuclear transfer (NT) techniques to create transgenic offspring capable of producing valuable proteins may have a major impact on the pharmaceutical market. Our objective was to compare the in vivo developmental potential of NT embryos produced from the fusion of transgenic donor cells with cytoplasts prepared from either FSH-stimulated ovaries or nonstimulated abattoir-derived ovaries. Donor cells were prepared from a transgenic fetus carrying the gene for human antithrombin III as a marker and used within four to eight subpassages. Cells were serum deprived for 4 days prior to cytoplast transfer. Oocytes were enucleated by removing the metaphase plate using a DNA stain and epifluorescent illumination. Donor cells were fused to enucleated oocytes by electric pulse and then chemically activated. There was no difference in the number of transferable embryos produced from cytoplasts of FSH-stimulated ovaries or from the fusion of cytoplasts from abattoir ovaries, nor was there a difference in the number of pregnancies established per recipient with either treatment. All pregnancies from both groups culminated in the births of healthy female kids (five total). To our knowledge, this is the first report of cloned goats produced from NT using cytoplasts derived from abattoir ovaries.