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Cloning of male mice from adult tail-tip cells

Nature Genetics volume 22, pages 127–128 (1999)Cite this article

Cloning entire animals from adult somatic cells has recently been accomplished in sheep1, mouse2 and cow3,4. Thus far, all reported clones derived from adult animals have been produced using cells related to the female reproductive system (for example mammary gland cells1, ovarian cumulus/granulosa cells2,4 and oviductal cells3), raising the question of whether males can be cloned in this way. We have previously reported the production of viable cloned female mice by nuclear transfer of cumulus cells2. Now, we have applied our technique to, and report success in, cloning using male-derived cells.

We found that 50-58% of the activated oocytes developed to morulae or blastocysts in vitro, but only 3 of 274 transferred embryos (1%) reached full term (Table 1). Three mice from tail-tip cells were born alive, all of them males with black eyes. Due to the very small number of live offspring obtained, however, the relationship between cloning success or failure and the culture condition and cell cycle of donor cells cannot be established. The three offspring weighed 1.22, 1.31 and 1.35 g, respectively, at the time of birth; these weights are within the range for normal newborn mice. Two offspring died within one hour after caesarian section due to respiratory failure. The remaining male pup developed into a fertile adult male with the same agouti coat colour as the B6C3F1 tail-tip cell donor. As oocytes of B6D2F1 mice do not carry the agouti mutation, we conclude that the agouti offspring were derived from B6C3F1 nuclei.

Table 1 Full-term development of reconstructed oocytes
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Figure 1: Nucleus donor cells and a clone.

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Acknowledgements

We thank P. Mombaerts, J.M. Bedford and A.C.F. Perry for comments and helpful discussion and ProBio America Inc. for support.

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  1. Department of Anatomy and Reproductive Biology, University of Hawaii School of Medicine, Honolulu, 96822, Hawaii, USA

    Teruhiko Wakayama & Ryuzo Yanagimachi

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  1. Teruhiko Wakayama
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  2. Ryuzo Yanagimachi
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Correspondence to Ryuzo Yanagimachi.

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Wakayama, T., Yanagimachi, R. Cloning of male mice from adult tail-tip cells. Nat Genet 22, 127–128 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/9632

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