In the second half of the twentieth century, scientists learned how to clone some species of mammals. Scientists have applied somatic cell nuclear transfer [5] to clone human and mammalian embryos as a means to produce stem cells [6] for laboratory and medical use. Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is a technology applied in cloning [7], stem cell research, and regenerative medicine [8]. Som...

In somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), donor cell reprogramming is considered as a biologically important and vulnerable event. Various donor cell pre-treatments with Xenopus egg extracts can promote reprogramming. Here we investigated if the reprogramming effect of one treatment with Xenopus egg extract on donor cells was maintained for several cell passages. The extract treatment resulted i...

In the pig, the efficiency of in vitro embryo production and somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) procedures remains limited. It has been suggested that prematuration treatments (pre-IVM) based on the prolongation of a patent, bidirectional crosstalk between the oocyte and the cumulus cells through gap junction mediate communication (GJC), with the maintenance of a proper level of cAMP, could i...

Epigenetic reprogramming is thought to play an important role in the development of cloned embryos reconstructed by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). In the present study, dynamic reprogramming of histone acetylation and methylation modifications was investigated in the first cell cycle of cloned embryos. Our results demonstrated that part of somatic inherited lysine acetylation on core his...

Antibiotic selectable marker genes have been widely used to generate transgenic animals. Once transgenic animals have been obtained, the selectable marker is no longer necessary but raises public concerns regarding biological safety. The aim of this study was to prepare competent antibiotic selectable marker free transgenic cells for somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). PhiC31 intergrase was u...

Animal breeding via Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (SCNT) has enormous potential in agriculture and biomedicine. However, concerns about whether SCNT animals are as healthy or epigenetically normal as conventionally bred ones are raised as the efficiency of cloning by SCNT is much lower than natural breeding or In-vitro fertilization (IVF). Thus, we have conducted a genome-wide gene expression a...

Somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) has provided a powerful tool for creating copies of selected individuals of different species since 1997, when the first mammal cloned from adult somatic cells, the sheep “Dolly”, was born [1]. Feasible SCNT procedures have also been established in pigs [2-4]. Although SCNT has also been successfully applied to the cloning of several miniature pigs, includin...

The poor outcome of somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is thought to be a consequence of incomplete reprogramming of the donor cell. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of treatment with S-adenosylhomocysteine (SAH) a DNA demethylation agent, on DNA methylation levels and X-chromosome inactivation status of bovine female fibroblast donor cells and the subsequent impact ...

Demecolcine (DEM) treatment of oocytes induces formation of a membrane protrusion containing a mass of condensed maternal chromosomes, which can be removed with minimal damage prior to somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). However, the effect of this method on the distribution of maturation-promoting factor (MPF) in porcine oocytes has not been reported. Here, the level of MPF and the distribut...