Effects of Donor Cell Type on Developmental Competence of Canine–Porcine Interspecies Cloned Embryos

Canine somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is a powerful technology that can be used to clone beloved companion dogs, produce valuable working dogs, rescue endangered canine breeds, and create genetically engineered dogs. Nevertheless, the application of this technology is hindered by the low developmental efficiency of canine SCNT embryos. It has been shown that in pig and horse cloning using mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), compared with fibroblasts, as donor cells can enhance the developmental potential of SCNT embryos. Whether this is also true for dog SCNT is unknown. This study aims to evaluate the efficiency of MSCs and fibroblasts as donor cells for canine SCNT. We demonstrated that canine adipose tissue-derived MSCs (cAd-MSCs) have a higher growth rate, lower apoptosis level, and higher expression level of pluripotency genes and HOX family genes than canine ear fibroblasts (cEFs). These features enhance the reprogramming efficiency of cAd-MSCs in canine-porcine interspecies SCNT (iSCNT) embryos, resulting in a higher developmental competence in cAd-MSCs-derived iSCNT embryos than that in cEFs-generated counterparts. This study indicates that cAd-MSC is a better donor cell type than cEF for SCNT.