Nuclear Transfer Core Facility

Understanding Development and Disease by Nuclear Transfer
Nuclear transfer was developed over 50 years ago in amphibians to test whether the nuclei of adult cells remain equivalent to the zygotic nucleus. Cloning experiments in mammals over the last decade have unequivocally demonstrated that the nuclei from adult and even terminally differentiated cells can give rise to an entire organism, thus indicating that the differentiated state is reversible upon exposure to the oocyte environment.

In addition to its use in studying mammalian development, nuclear transfer provides a means for deriving genetically matched embryonic stem (ES) cells for custom-tailored cell therapy. This concept, which has been termed “therapeutic cloning” or “somatic cell nuclear transfer” (SCNT), has been shown to practically work in mouse models of immune disease and Parkinson’s. The recent isolation of patient-derived human ES cells by nuclear transfer is a first promising step for the potential therapeutic application of SCNT and the treatment of debilitating diseases including Alzheimer, Parkinson’s and diabetes. Moreover, the analysis of such ES cell lines will help to identify the genes involved in these disorders and may lead to the development of drugs that interfere with disease progression.

Ultimately, a better understanding of the events that take place during the nuclear transfer process may lead to the development of strategies aimed at the directed reprogramming of adult cells into ES-like cells. Clearly, nuclear transfer remains a unique tool to unravel the molecular basis of normal development and disease.