Abstract
Transgenic mice are useful tools for studying gene function and regulation but can be difficult to successfully breed. To 'rescue' transgenic lines that are difficult to propagate, researchers use a variety of techniques. One method is ovarian transplant, in which researchers remove ovaries from a donor transgenic mouse, cryopreserve the ovarian tissue, transplant this tissue into histocompatible female mice and breed these recipient females. Though it is a useful technique, cryopreservation can potentially damage ovarian tissue, which could reduce fertility. In this article, the authors describe how they carried out ovarian transplants without cryopreservation to rescue a line of transgenic C57BL/6 mice. Other researchers who have experience with mouse reproductive surgery should be able to use this technique to rescue infertile transgenic lines of mice.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Dr. Arthur S. Levine, Dean, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, for supporting the Transgenic and Gene Targeting Core Facility at the University of Pittsburgh.
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The authors declare no competing financial interests.
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Dawes, J., Liu, B., Mars, W. et al. Multiple ovarian transplants to rescue a transgenic line of mice. Lab Anim 39, 191–193 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/laban0610-191
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/laban0610-191
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