Production of bovine embryos using freeze-dried somatic cells

Freeze-drying (FD) has the potential for preservation of mammalian cells and producing clones through nuclear transfer (NT). In this study, we examined the developmental potential and epigenetic status of NT embryos using FD bovine fibroblast cells. The DNA-damaged fibroblast cell rates were 8.0%, and the blastocyst formation rates were 22.1 % after NT. The level of H3K4me3 was similar to NT, parthenogenetic and androgenetic embryos. On the other hand, the level of H3K27me3 was higher in NT and parthenogenetic embryos than androgenetic embryos. These results suggest that abnormal reprogramming may cause pregnancy loss after embryo transfer of NT embryos using FD cells. If a suitable microdevices can be developed to handle somatic cells and oocytes instead of micromanipulators, this will produce a substantial advantage for cell-banking and the maintenance diversity in mammals.