Epigenetic regulation of genetic integrity is reprogrammed during cloning.

ABSTRACT: Cloning by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) circumvents processes that normally function during gametogenesis to prepare the gamete genomes to support development of new progeny following fertilization. One such process is enhanced maintenance of genetic integrity in germ cells, such that germ cells typically carry fewer spontaneously acquired mutations than somatic cells in the same individual. Thus, embryos produced from somatic cells by SCNT could directly inherit more mutations than naturally conceived embryos. Alternatively, they could inherit epigenetic programming that predisposes more rapid accumulation of de novo mutations during development. We used a transgenic mouse system to test these possibilities by producing cloned midgestation mouse fetuses from three different donor

SUBMITTER: Murphey P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2660773 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature