HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 73/3/390    most recent biolreprod.105.041673v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Ohta, H. Articles by Wakayama, T. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Ohta, H. Articles by Wakayama, T. Agricola Articles by Ohta, H. Articles by Wakayama, T.

Generation of Normal Progeny by Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection Following Grafting of Testicular Tissue from Cloned Mice That Died Postnatally¹

Laboratory for Genomic Reprogramming, Center for Developmental Biology, RIKEN Kobe Institute, Kobe, Hyogo 650-0047, Japan

Animal cloning by nuclear transfer has been successful in several species and was expected to become an alternative reproductive technique. Among the problems associated with this cloning technique, however, are its low success rate and high mortality of cloned animals even if they develop to term. Nuclear transfer has thus come to be considered too difficult to apply as a reproductive technique. The transplantation of male germ cells or pieces of testicular tissue has enabled the induction of spermatogenesis from fetal or postnatal male mice. In the present study, we examined whether functional male gametes could be obtained by the transplantation of pieces of testicular tissue from cloned mice that died immediately after birth with typical aberrant phenotypes, such as large offspring syndrome. Donor testicular tissues were retrieved from cloned mice that died postnatally and were transplanted into the testes of recipient nude mice. Two to three months after transplantation, the grafted donor testicular tissue had grown in the host testis, and histological analysis showed that spermatogenesis occurred within the graft. Intracytoplasmic sperm injection demonstrated that the testicular sperm generated in the grafted donor tissue were able to support full-term development of progeny. These results clearly showed that functional spermatogenesis could be induced by transplanting testicular tissue from cloned mice that died postnatally into recipient mice. The strategy presented here will be applicable to cloned animals of other species, because the xenografting of testicular tissue into mice has been demonstrated previously to be possible.

assisted reproductive technology, developmental biology, sperm, testis

² Correspondence: Hiroshi Ohta, Laboratory for Genomic Reprogramming, Center for Developmental Biology, RIKEN Kobe Institute, 2-2-3 Minatojima-minamimachi, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo 650-0047, Japan. FAX: 81 78 306 3095; ohta{at}cdb.riken.go.jp

This article has been cited by other articles:

				C. Wyns, M. Curaba, B. Martinez-Madrid, A. Van Langendonckt, W. Francois-Xavier, and J. Donnez Spermatogonial survival after cryopreservation and short-term orthotopic immature human cryptorchid testicular tissue grafting to immunodeficient mice Hum. Reprod., June 1, 2007; 22(6): 1603 - 1611. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. Kohda, K. Inoue, N. Ogonuki, H. Miki, M. Naruse, T. Kaneko-Ishino, A. Ogura, and F. Ishino Variation in Gene Expression and Aberrantly Regulated Chromosome Regions in Cloned Mice Biol Reprod, December 1, 2005; 73(6): 1302 - 1311. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]