The nick translation and gap filling procedures, without external addition of nicking enzymes, were performed in situ on fixed chromosomes of mouse preimplantation and postimplantation embryos and of bone marrow in order to detect possible DNA single-strand breaks (nicks and (or) gaps). All chromosome preparations were made using the same technique. Nick translation of chromosomal DNA with DNA polymerase I (Pol I) or gap filling with the Klenow fragment of Pol I in the presence of biotinylated-dUTP, demonstrated a regular absence of label on chromosomes of postimplantation embryos and bone marrow. No difference in sensitivity was found between the holoenzyme and the Klenow fragment. In preimplantation embryos, the chromosome reactivity in nick translation was highest at the blastocyst stage and varied according to cleavage divisions of the zygote.

No abstract

To study human diseases associated with mutations in mitochondrial DNA one needs an animal model in which the distribution of abnormal mtDNA and its impact on the phenotype might be followed. We isolated human mitochondria from HepG2 cell culture and microinjected them into murine zygotes, upon which those were transplanted to the pseudopregnant mice. PCR with species-specific primers allowed detecting human mtDNA in the tissues of 7-13-day embryos. No serious alterations in the development of transmitochondrial embryos were noticed. Among various organs/tissues of the 13-day embryos, human mtDNA was detected only in the heart, skeletal muscles, and stomach, which is in line with its uneven distribution among the blastomeres of an early mouse embryo that we described previously. In four recipient females, the microinjected zygotes were allowed to develop to term, the four neonate males of their joint litter were sacrificed, and in three of them human mtDNA was detected in the heart, skeletal muscles, stomach, brain, testes, and bladder. Six females of that joint litter were grown and mated to intact males. In the progeny (F1) of one of the females two mice were carrying human mtDNA in the heart, skeletal muscles, stomach, brain, lungs, uterus, ovaries, and kidneys. The study confirms the possibility to obtain transmitochondrial mice carrying human mtDNA that is transmitted to the animals of the next generation. Our results also indicate that among the organs to which human mtDNA is distributed some are more likely to receive it than others.

The phenomenon of spontaneous differentiation (without bromodeoxyuridine in the culture medium) of sister chromatids of mouse chromosomes at the blastocyst stage of embryogenesis is described. The frequency of sister chromatid exchanges in such differentiated chromosomes was calculated.