Factors affecting production of transgenic rats by ICSI-mediated DNA transfer: effects of sonication and freeze-thawing of spermatozoa, rat strains for sperm and oocyte donors, and different constructs of exogenous DNA

Factors affecting the efficiency of producing transgenic rats by intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI)-mediated DNA transfer were investigated. Epididymal spermatozoa from Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were sonicated and/or frozen-thawed for cutting the tail and membrane disruption. The sperm heads were exposed for 1 min to different concentrations (0.02-2.5 microg/ml) of 3.0 kb enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) DNA solution, and then microinjected into the denuded F1 hybrid (Donryu x LEW) rat oocytes. The optimal concentration of EGFP DNA solution was 0.1 microg/ml, as determined by the in vitro developmental competence into morulae/blastocysts of the ICSI oocytes and the EGFP expression of the resultant embryos. The efficiency of producing transgenic rat offspring (per transferred zygote) was 2.8%, 1.6%, and 3.3% in the oocytes injected with sonicated, frozen-thawed, and sonicated + frozen-thawed sperm heads, respectively. The founder transgenic rats carrying the EGFP gene transmitted their transgenes to their progeny according to the Mendelian fashion, suggesting the stable incorporation of the transgenes into the rat genomes. Four rat strains (F344, LEW, Donryu, and SD) were compared for their suitability as sperm/oocyte donors for the production of transgenic rats by ICSI with sonicated, frozen-thawed and solution of EGFP DNA-exposed sperm heads. The efficiency of producing transgenic rats in the SD strain (8.2%) was higher than that in the LEW strain (0.9%), while those in the F344 and Donryu strains (4.3%-4.4%) were intermediate. One plasmid DNA (Fyn, 5.0 kb) and two BAC DNA (BAC/Fyn, 208 kb; Svet1/IRES-Cre, 186 kb) were successfully introduced into the SD rat genomes via ICSI, with the producing efficiencies of 2.8%, 0.9%, and 2.4%, respectively.