Viable rabbits derived from reconstructed oocytes by germinal vesicle transfer after intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI)

Abnormal oocyte spindle due to the improper function of ooplasm is associat ed with female infertility of advanced maternal age. A possible way to over come this problem is to transfer an oocyte germinal vesicle (GV) which cont ains genetic materials of a patient with a history of poor embryo developme nt to the cytoplast from a donor oocyte. Here we demonstrate that GV transf er is feasible using a rabbit model. When the GVs were transferred to auto- or heterocytoplasts of GV stage oocytes, around 80% of the reconstructed o ocytes could mature in vitro and 7.1-9.4% of the oocytes developed to blast ocyst stage after intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). Transfer of 93 f ertilized eggs reconstructed via GV transfer into six recipients resulted i n two live offspring. Results of this experiment indicate that GV transfer can potentially become a new approach in treatment of infertility because o f advanced maternal age. (C) 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.