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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 71/2/405    most recent biolreprod.104.028472v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Hofmann, A. Articles by Pfeifer, A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Hofmann, A. Articles by Pfeifer, A. Agricola Articles by Hofmann, A. Articles by Pfeifer, A.

Generation of Transgenic Cattle by Lentiviral Gene Transfer into Oocytes¹

Department of Pharmacy,³ Institute for Pharmacology, Center for Drug Research, Ludwig-Maximilians University, 81377 Munich, Germany Institute of Molecular Animal Breeding/Gene Center,⁴ Ludwig-Maximilians University, 81377 Munich, Germany Agrobiogen GmbH,⁵ 86567 Hilgertshausen, Germany

The potential benefits of transgenic cattle range from the production of large quantities of pharmaceutically relevant proteins to agricultural improvement. However, the production of transgenic cattle is presently time-consuming and expensive because of the inefficiency of the classical DNA microinjection technique. Here, we report the use of lentiviruses for the efficient generation of transgenic cattle. Initial attempts to produce transgenic cattle by lentiviral infection of preimplantation embryos were not successful. In contrast, infection of bovine oocytes with lentiviral vectors carrying an enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) expression cassette followed by in vitro fertilization resulted in the birth of transgenic calves. Furthermore, all of the calves generated by infection of oocytes were transgenic, and 100% of these animals expressed eGFP as detected by in vivo imaging and Western blotting. In addition, a transgenic calf was produced by infection of fetal fibroblasts followed by nuclear transfer into enucleated oocytes. Taken together, after adjusting lentiviral transgenesis to cattle, unprecedented high transgenesis and expression rates were achieved.

¹ Supported by grants from the Bayerische Forschungsstiftung (492/02) and the DFG.

² Correspondence: Alexander Pfeifer, Department of Pharmacy, Institute for Pharmacology, Ludwig-Maximilians University, Butenandtstr. 5 (C), 81377 Munich, Germany. FAX: 49 89 2180 77326; alexander.pfeifer{at}cup.uni-muenchen.de