The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) somatic nucleus can dedifferentiate in rabbit ooplasm and support early development of the reconstructed egg

The giant panda skeletal muscle cells, uterus epithelial cells and mammary gland cells from an adult individual were cultured and used as nucleus donor for the construction of interspecies embryos by transferring them into enucleated rabbit eggs. All the three kinds of somatic cells were able to reprogram in rabbit ooplasm and support early embryo development, of which mammary gland cells were proven to be the best, followed by uterus epithelial cells and skeletal muscle cells. The experiments showed that direct injection of mammary gland cell into enucleated rabbit ooplasm, combined with in vivo development in ligated rabbit oviduct, achieved higher blastoeyst development than in vitro culture after the somatic cell was injected into the perivitelline space and fused with the enucleated egg by electrical stimulation. The chromosome analysis demonstrated that the genetic materials in reconstructed blastocyst cells were the same as that in panda somatic cells. In addition, giant panda mitochondrial DNA (     

The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) somatic nucleus can dedifferentiate in rabbit ooplasm and support early development of the reconstructed egg

The giant panda skeletal muscle cells, uterus epithelial cells and mammary gland cells from an adult individual were cultured and used as nucleus donor for the construction of intenpecies embryos by transferring them into enucleated rabbit eggs. All the three kinds of somatic cells were able to reprogram in rabbit ooplasm and support early embryo development, of which mammary gland cells were proven to be the best, followed by uterus epithelial cells and skeletal muscle cells. The experiments showed that direct injection of mammary gland cell into enucleated rabbit ooplasm, combined within vim development in ligated rabbit oviduct, achieved higher blastocyst development thanin vitro culture after the somatic cell was injected into the perivitelline space and fused with the enucleated egg by electrical stimulation. The chromosome analysis demonstrated that the genetic materials in reconstructed blastocyst cells were the same as that in panda somatic cells. In addition, giant panda mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) was shown to exist in the intenpecies reconstructed blastocyst. The data suggest that (i) the ability of ooplasm to dedifferentiate somatic cells is not speciesspecific; (ii) there is compatibility between intenpecies somatic nucleus and ooplasm during early development of the reconstructed egg.     

Hydrozoan eggs can only be fertilized at the site of polar body formation

Hydrozoan eggs are normally fertilized at the site of polar body formation. The female pronucleus is just under the cell membrane at this site. Sperm are attracted to the eggs and aggregate at this site. This paper demonstrates that this site is the only region on the egg surface where the sperm can fuse with the egg. This has been done by cutting unfertilized eggs into fragments containing the site of polar body formation and fragments without this region. Sperm were added to the fragments and their ability to be fertilized was assayed by noting whether or not they cleaved. Only fragments containing the site of polar body formation cleaved. The absence of cleavage in fragments lacking the site of polar body formation cannot be attributed to the inability of these fragments to attract sperm. Such fragments attract sperm for several hours while fragments which contain the site of polar body formation stop attracting sperm a few minutes after fertilization. Cytological studies of egg fragments which do not contain the site of polar body formation show that they do not contain sperm nuclei. The lack of cleavage in these fragments cannot be attributed to the lack of a female pronucleus. By using centrifugation it is possible to move the female pronucleus away from the site of polar body formation. By cutting these centrifuged eggs in an appropriate way it is possible to create egg fragments with the site of polar body formation that lack the female pronucleus and egg fragments that lack the site of polar body formation but contain a female pronucleus. Only fragments which contain the site of polar body formation can be fertilized.     

硬骨鱼类体细胞核移植的研究

本文用不同属、科、目的硬骨鱼类作材料进行体细胞核移植研究。鲫鱼（Ｃａｒａｓｓｉｕｓａｕｒａｔｕｓ）、鲮鱼（Ｃｉｒｒｈｉｎｕｓｍｏｌｉｔｏｒｅｌｌａ）和尼罗罗非鲫（Ｔｉｌａｐｉａｎｉｌｏｔｉｃａ）的体细胞核（头肾细胞）移植到鲤鱼（Ｃｙｐｒｉｎｕｓｃａｒｐｉｏ）的成熟去核卵中,通过继代核移植,在鲫鱼体细胞核和鲤鱼去核卵的属间组合中,获得发育到血液循环期的幼鱼;在鲮鱼体细胞核和鲤鱼去核卵的亚科间组合中,获得发育到心脏跳动期的晚期胚胎;在尼罗非鲫体细胞核和鲤鱼去枚卵的目间组合中,获得发育到肌肉效应期的胚胎。由于是直接用成鱼体细胞核作供核体进行核移植,因而能够克服供体鱼和受体鱼不同步产卵的困难。实验结果表明,这对进行硬骨鱼类核质杂交研究无疑是一种简便而又有效的方法。     

Insemination of immature sea urchin (Arbacia punctulata) eggs

Nuclei from osmotically opened erythrocytes and erythroblasts were injected into nucleated or enucleated Xenopus laevis eggs. Although the cleavage pattern of the recipient eggs which started to divide was normal in about half of the cases, nuclei from erythrocytes injected into nucleated or enucleated eggs never promoted development beyond the early gastrula stage. In contrast, nuclei from osmotically opened erythroblasts injected into enucleated eggs promoted development to early tadpole stages (stages 29–36). Frequently, injection of osmotically broken erythroblasts injected into nonenucleated eggs gave rise to triploid larvae which all died at roughly the same early tadpole stages (29–36). Surprisingly, development did not proceed to the stage of advanced organogenesis (stages 44–47), which is easily reached by gynogenetic haploids: The presence of the haploid genome derived from the egg pronucleus did not significantly improve the developmental capacity. Embryos obtained by single injection of erythrocyte nuclei into nucleated eggs were unable to pass the gastrula stage. To invalidate the interpretation that the observed arrest in development was related to nuclear damage during injection of the recipient eggs, single unbroken erythrocytes and unbroken erythroblasts were transferred into nucleated and enucleated eggs. No cleavage was observed in both classes of eggs injected with unbroken erythrocytes. In contrast, erythroblasts were found to induce cleavage in the recipient eggs at a frequency of about 11%. To ascertain that the nucleus of unbroken erythroblasts participated in development, the 1-nucleolar marker was used. Diploid embryos with only one nucleolus present were found following injection of unbroken erythroblasts into enucleated eggs from 2nu females. Triploid 2nu embryos were detected following injection of (diploid) 1nu erythroblasts into nonenucleated eggs from 2nu females. The most advanced development stages reached by these embryos did not, however, differ from the best results found in the first class of experiments: Nuclei from erythroblasts injected undamaged into nucleated or enucleated eggs never developed into a normal tadpole. Serial transfer experiments were performed using normally gastrulating embryos which had developed, following the injection of 1nu unbroken erythroblasts into recipient eggs. These donors for serial transfer experiments were checked for the presence of the 1nu marker. In addition they had passed through a normally cleaving eight-cell stage. No improvement in developmental capacity as compared to first transfer experiments could be found.     

Meiotic parthenogenesis and heterochromatization in a soft scale,pulvinaria hydrangeae (Coccoidea: Homoptera)

Summary Meiotic parthenogenesis of a type not previously described was found in Pulvinaria hydrangeae Steinweden. During diakinesis 8 bivalents were formed. At prometaphase the spindle was tripolar but anaphase I was bipolar and normal. After completion of division of the primary oocyte, the following sequence occurred: 1. polar body I divided, usually into 3 products; 2. the secondary oocyte divided to yield the egg pronucleus and polar body II; 3. the egg pronucleus divided into its two haploid products; and 4. the second polar body divided. The products of the egg pronucleus fused while dividing to restore the diploid chromosome number; this division may be equated to the first cleavage division. The products of the polar bodies did not take part in the formation of the embryo proper or the mycetocytes.Among the embryos produced by females of two out of the three populations studied some of the embryos showed a heterochromatic chromosome set, characteristic of males in this and related families. The reproductive system of the females as well as the eggs did not contain any sperm; thus the male embryos were apparently produced parthenogenetically.The euchromatic and heterochromatic chromosome sets were genetically identical, since they both originated from the egg pronucleus by mitosis. The heterochromatization of one set but not the other might be due in part to a previous difference in their position in the cytoplasm.The females were completely homozygous yet they produced male and female embryos. Thus it appears that sex determination in the group does not depend on the segregation of genetic factors in either males or females.In addition to male and female embryos, three types of degenerating embryos were observed. It is believed that these embryos were formed by polyploid somatic cells which invaded abnormal eggs and embryos and took over development.     

Spermatozoan response to the toad egg matured after removal of germinal vesicle.

The germinal vesicle (GV) was removed from toad oocytes at various times after treatment with progesterone, and enucleated eggs were inseminated under conditions that ensured fertilization of nucleated control eggs. The eggs enucleated before the initiation of GV break-down did not show genuine cleavage. Cytological examinations revealed, however, that spermatozoa enter the eggs enucleated even before the hormone treatment, without subsequent formation of pronuclei or DNA synthesis. The same lack of response was observed when several detergent-pretreated sperm were injected into enucleated eggs. When GV material was injected back into enucleated oocytes, the injected spermatozoa underwent transformation and DNA synthesis, although in variable degrees, in the egg cytoplasm. It is concluded that the egg becomes fertilizable independently of the GV during the hormone-induced maturation process. After entering the egg, however, spermatozoa require GV material for their participation in the developmental process.     

中国对虾受精过程中精卵核的细胞学变化

中国对虾精子以其棘部顶端随机附着在卵上,精子在凝胶膜形成后,第一极体排出前入卵,精子入卵后,絮状的精核经过重建形成雄原核,中国对虾卵子排放时处于第一次成熟分裂的中期,卵子入海水时,纺锤体的长轴与质膜平行,卵子激活后,纺锤体的长轴开始旋转,旋转至纺鲑体长轴与质膜垂直时,由纺锤丝牵引着染色体向两极移动,外侧的染色体由质膜包裹形成第一极体,受膜举起后,由次级卵母细胞排放出第二极体,此后,单倍雌核重建形成雌原核,雄原核形成早于雌原核,雌雄原核于卵子中央联会形成联合核,受精后的50分钟纺锤丝牵关染色体称向两极,质膜内缢断裂形成两个细胞的胚胎。     

The giant panda ( Ailuropoda melanoleuca ) somatic nucleus can dedifferentiate in rabbit ooplasm and support early development of the reconstructed egg

The giant panda skeletal muscle cells, uterus epithelial cells and mammary gland cells from an adult individual were cultured and used as nucleus donor for the construction of intenpecies embryos by transferring them into enucleated rabbit eggs. All the three kinds of somatic cells were able to reprogram in rabbit ooplasm and support early embryo development, of which mammary gland cells were proven to be the best, followed by uterus epithelial cells and skeletal muscle cells. The experiments showed that direct injection of mammary gland cell into enucleated rabbit ooplasm, combined within vim development in ligated rabbit oviduct, achieved higher blastocyst development thanin vitro culture after the somatic cell was injected into the perivitelline space and fused with the enucleated egg by electrical stimulation. The chromosome analysis demonstrated that the genetic materials in reconstructed blastocyst cells were the same as that in panda somatic cells. In addition, giant panda mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) was shown to exist in the intenpecies reconstructed blastocyst. The data suggest that (i) the ability of ooplasm to dedifferentiate somatic cells is not speciesspecific; (ii) there is compatibility between intenpecies somatic nucleus and ooplasm during early development of the reconstructed egg. Project supported by the 1998 Special Fund of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (KY95-J1-318) and a 1999 Special Fund from the Ministry of Science and Technology. Instruments were dominated by Mr. Shum Yam Wa, Heal Force Development Ltd.     

Intracellular localization of argyrophilic proteins in the maturing oocyte,fertilized egg,and spermatozoa of the starfish,Asterina pectinifera

Changes in intracellular localization of argyrophilic proteins visualized as silver-stained particles by nuclear organizer region (NOR)-silver staining were investigated in starfish oocyte maturation. The silver-stained particles were localized in the germinal vesicle and nucleolus of immature oocytes and dispersed into the cytoplasm at the time of germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD). In the mature egg cytoplasm, silver-stained particles were distributed on yolk-like granules with diameters of 0.3–1.0 μm. In spermatozoa, silver-stained particles were detected heavily in the acrosome and centrosomes but few were detected in the nucleus, whereas they were present in the male pronucleus of fertilized eggs. The silver-stained particles were removed by pretreatment of eggs with protease but not with nuclease. These results indicate that argyrophilic proteins disperse to the egg cytoplasm during GVBD and might be incorporated to the male pronucleus from the egg cytoplasm in fertilization. The morphological changes from chromosomes through chromosome vesicles to female pronucleus were also observed with light microscopy after NOR-silver staining.     

An ultrastructural study of cross-fertilization (Arbacia female x Mytilus male)

Insemination of sea urchin (Arbacia) ova with mussel (Mytilus) sperm has been accomplished by treating eggs with trypsin and suspending the gametes in seawater made alkaline with NaOH. Not all inseminated eggs undergo a cortical granule reaction. Some eggs either elevate what remains of their vitelline layer or demonstrate no cortical modification whatsoever. After its incorporation into the egg, the nucleus of Mytilus sperm undergoes changes which eventually give rise to the formation of a male pronucleus. Concomitant with these transformations, a sperm aster may develop in association with the centrioles brought into the egg with the spermatozoon. Both the male pronucleus and the sperm aster may then migrate centrad to the female pronucleus. Evidence is presented which suggests that fusion of the male pronuclei from Mytilus sperm with female pronuclei from Arbacia eggs may occur, although this was not directly observed. These results demonstrate that Mytilus sperm nuclei are able to react to conditions within Arbacia eggs and differentiate into male pronuclei.     

Sperm aster formation and pronuclear decondensation during rabbit fertilization and development of a functional assay for human sperm

Microtubule organization and chromatin configurations in rabbit eggs after in vivo rabbit fertilization and after intracytoplasmic injection with human sperm were characterized. In unfertilized eggs, an anastral barrel-shaped meiotic spindle, oriented radially to the cortex, was observed. After rabbit sperm incorporation, microtubules were organized into a radial aster from the sperm head, and cytoplasmic microtubules were organized around the male and female pronuclei. The microtubules extending from the decondensed sperm head participated in pronuclear migration, and organization around the female pronucleus may also be important for pronuclear centration. Support for these observations was found in parthenogenetically activated eggs, in which microtubule arrays were organized around the single female pronucleus that formed after artificial activation. These observations support a biparental centrosomal contribution during rabbit fertilization as opposed to a strictly paternal inheritance pattern suggested from previous studies. In rabbit eggs that received injected human donor sperm, an astral array of microtubules radiated from the sperm neck and enlarged as the sperm head underwent pronuclear decondensation. gamma-Tubulin was observed in the center of the sperm aster. We conclude that the rabbit egg exhibits a blended centrosomal contribution necessary for completion of fertilization and that the rabbit egg may be a novel animal model for assessing centrosomal function in human sperm and spermatogenic cells following intracytoplasmic injection.     

Light and Electron Microscopic Studies on Fertilization of Pelmatohydra Robusta I. Sperm Entry to a Specialized Region of the Egg

Fertilization of a fresh water polyp, Pelmatohydra robusta , was studied by light and electron microscopy. A small depression was observed in the animal pole of the unfertilized egg. The egg pronucleus was always situated in close contact with the bottom of the depression. Microvilli which were covered with an egg coat consisting of filamentous components were observed on the egg surface. Microvilli and the egg coat were not detected on the surface of the depression. Sperm were associated with the egg plasma membrane and entered the egg only at the bottom of the depression. Excess sperm aggregated around the depression of inseminated eggs. After fertilization, the egg made a protrusion in the region where the egg pronucleus and sperm were in close contact with each other. A new egg coat was formed on the entire surface of the fertilized egg. The restriction of sperm-egg interactions to a specialized region of the hydra egg is discussed in connection with the micropyle of Pisces eggs and the animal dimple of Discoglossus (Anura) eggs.     

Electron microscopic observations on sperm entry and pronuclear formation in naked eggs of the rose bitterling in polyspermic fertilization

Unfertilized eggs of the rose bitterling (Rhodeus ocellatus ocellatus) were squeezed out of females that had an elongated ovipositor and were dechorionated mechanically with fine forceps in physiological saline. The dechorionated eggs were transferred into fresh water then inseminated at once by spermatozoa of the same species. A large number of spermatozoa was found on the surface of eggs that had not yet had cortical reaction following insemination. The surface of the naked eggs responded by formation of many small cytoplasmic protrusions (viz., fertilization cones) at sperm attachment sites. The formed fertilization cones were rosettelike structures formed by the aggregation of some bleblike swellings devoid of microvilli and microplicae. About 10 min after insemination, the fertilization cones retracted, but marks of their presence characterized by less microvilli and microplicae remained in the eggs 15 min after insemination. Many spermatozoa penetrated into the cytoplasm of each naked egg. The sperm nuclear envelope disappeared by means of vesiculation resulting from fusion of the inner and outer membranes. The sperm nucleus decondensed and developed into a larger male pronucleus. Smooth-surfaced vesicles surrounded the decondensing sperm nucleus and formed the new male pronuclear envelope. Sperm mitochondria and flagella were found in the egg 15 min after insemination. The response of the egg surface to sperm entry and pronucleus formation are discussed.     

Cloned mice from fetal fibroblast cells arrested at metaphase by a serial nuclear transfer

Cloning using G(0)-arrested somatic cells has led to the suggestion that this stage of the cell cycle is necessary for the success of cloning. In this study we report that cloned mice can be generated from fetal fibroblasts arrested at metaphase of the cell cycle. The procedure involves fusing a metaphase-arrested fetal fibroblast to an enucleated oocyte. After parthenogenetic activation a polar body and single diploid pronucleus were formed. Some of these were allowed to develop to the blastocyst stage, while others were enucleated and the nucleus was transferred to an enucleated fertilized 1-cell embryo. After the single transfer technique, 2 out of 164 developed to late stages of gestation were dead with gross abnormalities. However, after the serial nuclear transfer, 5 out of 272 embryos were recovered live at Day 19.5, and 2 of these went on to develop into apparently normal adults. All of the cloned embryos showed severe placental hypertrophy and defective differentiation of placental tissues. This study illustrates that reprogramming can occur after nuclear transfer at metaphase of the cell cycle.     

DDK egg-foreign sperm incompatibility in mice is not between the pronuclei

A high rate of normal postimplantation development was achieved when the pronuclei of embryos from matings of DDK females with (CBA X C57BL/6J)F1 males were transplanted into enucleated embryos of non-DDK origin. This shows that the DDK egg cytoplasm, not the maternal pronucleus, is involved in the late preimplantation-lethal incompatibility.     

The role of calcium, polyamines and centrosomes in the formation and organization of cleavage furrows in amphibian eggs.

Cleavage furrows of amphibian eggs exhibit characteristic morphological features: the presence of finger-like microvilli (MV) along their outer edges, the formation of furrow walls from new plasma membrane lacking MV, and the subsequent retrieval of this membrane during the infolding of the furrow. A similar structure can be induced, specifically, by certain cytoplasmic components such as centrosomes, polyamines and calcium. Their respective roles in the events associated with the furrowing process have been investigated by injecting these agents into nucleated and enucleated Pleurodeles eggs and evaluating their effects using cytochemical labelling of the egg surface with a biotin-streptavidin system. The injection of polyamines (spermine or spermidine) and in some cases, calcium into enucleated eggs provoked MV elongation and the appearance of newly formed, smooth plasma membrane. In these eggs, this membrane was not incorporated into the furrows, and as a consequence, the blastomeres did not actually separate. In contrast, the injection of centrosomes into enucleated eggs induced both the incorporation and internalization of new membrane, resulting in the formation of furrows and a true cellularization of the eggs, identical to the cleavage process observed in fertilized eggs. The present results provide further evidence that the establishment of the furrow depends on two complementary interacting systems: the contractile elements of the egg cortex which regulate the insertion of new membrane and the mitotic center which is essential for the invagination of the furrow.     

Cytoplasmic alteration of an established pattern of Rana pipiens chromosomal DNA replication

Cells from Rana pipiens embryos were incubated in ³H-thymidine for the duration of the last quarter of the S period plus the G₂ period of the cell cycle. Chromosomes of animal hemisphere cells of stage 9 embryos showed uniform labeling, whereas chromosomes of endodermal cells of stage 17 embryos showed terminal labeling. We tested whether egg cytoplasm would alter an established temporal pattern of chromosomal DNA replication. Nuclei from disaggregated endodermal cells of stage 17 embryos were transplanted into activated and enucleated eggs. The eggs were then allowed to develop to the blastula stage. Animal hemisphere explants of these blastulae were incubated in ³H-thymidine. Radioautographic localization of silver halide grains demonstrated a chromosomal DNA replication pattern that was uniform over the the metaphase chromosomes. The egg cytoplasm had evidently altered an established temporal pattern of chromosomal DNA replication.     

Diploidized eggs reprogram adult somatic cell nuclei to pluripotency in nuclear transfer in medaka fish (Oryzias latipes)

Reprogramming of adult somatic cell nuclei to pluripotency has been unsuccessful in non-mammalian animals, primarily because of chromosomal aberrations in nuclear transplants, which are considered to be caused by asynchrony between the cell cycles of the recipient egg and donor nucleus. In order to normalize the chromosomal status, we used diploidized eggs by retention of second polar body release, instead of enucleated eggs, as recipients in nuclear transfer of primary culture cells from the caudal fin of adult green fluorescent protein gene (GFP) transgenic medaka fish (Oryzias latipes). We found that 2.7% of the reconstructed embryos grew into adults that expressed GFP in various tissues in the same pattern as in the donor fish. Moreover, these fish were diploid, fertile and capable of passing the marker gene to the next generation in Mendelian fashion. We hesitate to call these fish 'clones' because we used non-enucleated eggs as recipients; in effect, they may be chimeras consisting of cells derived from diploid recipient nuclei and donor nuclei. In either case, fish adult somatic cell nuclei were reprogrammed to pluripotency and differentiated into a variety of cell types including germ cells via the use of diploidized recipient eggs.