Porcine skin-derived stem cells can serve as donor cells for nuclear transfer

Although transgenic animal production through somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) has been successful, the process is still inefficient. One major limitation is the use of somatic donor cells that have a finite life span. Identification and isolation of a cell type capable of rapid proliferation while possessing immortal or prolonged life span in culture and is capable of being genetically modified would be very valuable for utilization in the production of genetically modified pigs. Here we report the birth of live piglets after cloning by using porcine skin-derived stem cells (SSC) as a donor cell type. In the present study, cell cycle analysis indicates that the porcine SSC proliferate rapidly in vitro. The porcine SSC are capable of producing live offspring and can be genetically modified with positive selection. Utilization of porcine SSC may prove to be an excellent cell type for genetic modification followed by nuclear transfer for the production of transgenic pigs.