Effect of donor cell type on developmental competence, quality, gene expression, and epigenetic status of interspecies cloned embryos produced using cells from wild buffalo and oocytes from domestic buffalo.

This study compared the cloning efficiency of donor cells of fibroblast and epithelial origin isolated from ear skin of a wild buffalo (Bubalus arnee) and used with cytoplasts from domestic buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) in interspecies SCNT by hand-made cloning. The cleavage (93.0 ± 2.8% vs. 85.6 ± 2.4%) and blastocyst rates (50.6 ± 4.0% vs. 20.5 ± 2.6%) were higher (P < 0.05) for fibroblasts than those for epithelial cells, whereas the total cell number (490 ± 42 and 492 ± 95, respectively) and apoptotic index (2.3 ± 0.3 and 2.5 ± 0.6, respectively) of blastocysts were similar. The global level of H3K18ac and H3K27me3 was lower (P < 0.05) in fibroblasts than that in epithelial cells. The global level of H3K18ac was higher (P < 0.05) in fibroblast than that in epithelial cell–derived blastocysts, whereas that of H3K27me3 was similar between the two groups. The expression level of HDAC1, DNMT1, DNMT3a, and P53 was higher (P < 0.05) in fibroblasts than that in epithelial cells; that of CASPASE3 showed an opposite pattern (P < 0.001), whereas CASPASE7 expression level was similar in the two groups. In the embryos, the expression level of HDAC1, DNMT3a, and CDX2 was lower (P < 0.05) in fibroblast than that in epithelial cell–derived blastocysts; that of NANOG showed an opposite pattern (P < 0.05), whereas that of OCT4 was similar between the two groups. In conclusion, donor cells of fibroblast origin are easier to reprogram than those of epithelial origin in interspecies SCNT, and cloning efficiency, epigenetic status, and gene expression pattern vary among cells having different origin although they may be from the same tissue.