Flow cytometric cell cycle analysis of somatic cells primary cultures established for bovine cloning.

Abstract An important factor governing developmental rates of somatic cloned embryos is the phase of the cell cycle of donor nuclei. The aim of this experiment was to investigate the distribution of cell cycle phases in bovine cumulus and fibroblast cells cultured using routine treatment, and under cell cycle-arresting treatments. The highest percentages of cumulus cells in the G0+G1 stage were observed in uncultured, frozen/thawed cells originating from immature oocytes (79.8±2.2%), fresh and frozen/thawed cells from in vitro matured oocytes (84.1±6.2 and 77.8±5.7%, respectively), and in cycling cells (72.7±16.3 and 78.4±11.2%, respectively for cumulus cells from immature and in vitro matured oocytes). Serum starvation of cumulus cultures markedly decreased percentages of cells in G0+G1, and prolonged starvation significantly increased ( P P