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This Article Free via Open Access: OA OA Full Text Full Text (PDF) Supplemental Data OA All Versions of this Article: 2007-0252v1 26/2/485    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints/Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Google Scholar Articles by French, A. J. Articles by Wood, S. H. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by French, A. J. Articles by Wood, S. H.

TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT

Development of Human Cloned Blastocysts Following Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer with Adult Fibroblasts

^aStemagen Corporation, La Jolla, California, USA;
^bThe Reproductive Sciences Center, La Jolla, California, USA;
^cGenesis Genetics Institute, LLC, Detroit, Michigan, USA

Key Words. Egg donation • Nuclear transfer • Human • Embryo • Somatic cell nuclear transfer • Oocytes • Blastocysts

Correspondence: Andrew J. French, Ph.D., Stemagen Corp., 4150 Regents Park Row, La Jolla, California 92037, USA. Telephone: 858-453-2305; Fax: 858-754-1295; e-mail: afrench{at}stemagen.com

Received April 4, 2007; accepted for publication January 3, 2008.
First published online in STEM CELLS EXPRESS   January 17, 2008.



Nuclear transfer stem cells hold considerable promise in the field of regenerative medicine and cell-based drug discovery. In this study, a total of 29 oocytes were obtained from three young (20–24 years old) reproductive egg donors who had been successful in previous cycles. These oocytes, deemed by intended parents to be in excess of their reproductive needs, were donated for research without financial compensation by both the egg donor and intended parents after receiving informed consent. All intended parents successfully achieved ongoing pregnancies with the oocytes retained for reproductive purposes. Mature oocytes, obtained within 2 hours following transvaginal aspiration, were enucleated using one of two methods, extrusion or aspiration, after 45 minutes of incubation in cytochalasin B. Rates of oocyte lysis or degeneration did not differ between the two methods. Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) embryos were constructed using two established adult male fibroblast lines of normal karyotype. High rates of pronuclear formation (66%), early cleavage (47%), and blastocyst (23%) development were observed following incubation in standard in vitro fertilization culture media. One cloned blastocyst was confirmed by DNA and mitochondrial DNA fingerprinting analyses, and DNA fingerprinting of two other cloned blastocysts indicated that they were also generated by SCNT. Blastocysts were also obtained from a limited number of parthenogenetically activated oocytes. This study demonstrates, for the first time, that SCNT can produce human blastocyst-stage embryos using nuclei obtained from differentiated adult cells and provides new information on methods that may be needed for a higher level of efficiency for human nuclear transfer.

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest is found at the end of this article.

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				R. P. Cervera and M. Stojkovic Commentary: Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer--Progress and Promise Stem Cells, February 1, 2008; 26(2): 494 - 495. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]