Research Article

Administration of cyclosporin A to recipients improves the potential of mouse somatic cell nuclear-transferred oocytes to develop to fetuses

Yuta Tsuji^a23, Yoko Kato^a23 and Yukio Tsunoda^a1 c1

^a1 Laboratory of Animal Reproduction, College of Agriculture, Kinki University, Nara, Japan

^a2 Laboratory of Animal Reproduction, College of Agriculture, Kinki University, Nara 631–8505, Japan.

Summary

Somatic cell nuclear-transferred (SCNT) oocytes have a high potential for development in vitro, but a large proportion of embryos that are transferred to recipients is aborted before parturition. The precise mechanism for the high abortion rate is unknown, but abnormal placenta formation is frequently observed in SCNT-cloned pregnancies. The present study examined the effects of treating the recipients with cyclosporin A (CsA), an immunoprotectant, on the proportion of fetuses resulting from SCNT-cloned pregnancies. Cloned embryos developed from enucleated oocytes and receiving cumulus cells from F1 (C57BL/6 × DBA, H-2^b/d) females were transferred to outbred ICR (in which the H-2 complex was not fixed) recipient females. Each recipient received an intraperitoneal injection of CsA or vehicle. Compared with vehicle, administration of CsA to recipients on day 4.5 of pregnancy significantly increased the proportion of fetuses observed on day 10.5. The proportion of fetuses at day 18.5 of pregnancy in recipients receiving CsA treatment was slightly higher than that in controls. This study is the first to report that CsA administration increases the proportion of fetuses resulting from SCNT-cloned pregnancies.

(Received May 13 2010)

(Accepted December 09 2010)

(Online publication May 04 2011)

Keywords:

• CsA;
• Nuclear transfer;
• Somatic cells

Correspondence:

^c1 All correspondence to: Yukio Tsunoda. Tel +81 742 43 5143. Fax: +81 742 43 5393. e-mail address: tsunoda@nara.kindai.ac.jp

Footnotes

³ These authors contributed equally to this work.