Quality of rabbit transgenetic embryos

Abstract

The objective of this study was to compare quality of transgenic (TR) and non-transgenic rabbit embryos in regard to a total cells number, number of cells in ICM, percentage of apoptotic cells and average diameter of the embryo. The TR embryos were produced by microinjection of the EGFP gene into male pronucleus of fertilized rabbit egg, or they were obtained by mating of transgenic rabbits, carrying the gene for hFVIII. No significant differences were observed in the total cell number, ICM cell number and the embryo diameter between the groups. The higher total cell number (142 ±35.42), ICM cell number (36 ± 4.09) and embryo diameter (133.97 ± 10.93) were found in non - transgenic rabbit embryos. On the other hand, rate of apoptotic cells was significantly higher (p≤0.05) in transgenic embryos (6.6 %), compared to in vivo developed transgenic embryos (3.2 %). Our results indicate that transgenic rabbit embryos (with EGFP or hFVIII gene construct) do not differ in quality from non-transgenic ones.