Primate Embryonic Stem Cells Successfully ClonedScienceDaily (Nov. 15, 2007) ? Researchers at Oregon Health &Science University’s Oregon National Primate Research Center have made a significant breakthrough in efforts to develop human stem cell therapies that may be used to combat numerous devastating diseases. For the first time, scientists have successfully derived embryonic stem cells by reprogramming of genetic material from skin cells while studying rhesus macaque monkeys. The breakthrough follows several previously unsuccessful attempts by the OHSU-based team and other scientific teams worldwide. The results of the work were released online today by the scientific journal Nature. The work will also be published in next week’s edition of the journal.Prior to the OHSU team’s recent success in a species closely related to humans, scientists worldwide have isolated stem cells only in mice using a technique called somatic cell nuclear transfer. The method involves transplanting the nuy of Oregon Health &Science University. Don Wolf, Ph.D. of the primate center also played a significant role in the research.“Using our advanced methods, it is conceivable that years from now, patients could receive therapeutic embryonic stem cells developed from their very own cells meaning that there would be no concerns about transplant rejection. Another noteworthy aspect of this research is that it does not involve the use of fertilized embryos, a topic which has been the source of a significant ethical debate in this country. ”The Munroe-Meyer Institute and the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research collaborated with OHSU to conduct this research. The studies were funded by the Oregon National Primate Research Center, the National Center for Research Resources, and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, both components of the National Institutes of Health.?“This advance at the Oregon National Primate Research Center builds on studies supported over sevect the research, researchers obtained skin cells from a nine-year-old male rhesus macaque monkey at the Oregon National Primate Research Center. The researchers then used specialized imaging software called, Oosight Spindle Imaging System, to spot and remove the nuclear material attached to the egg’s spindle fibers. The nuclei of skin cells were then inserted into nucleus-free eggs. Using this technique, two embryonic stem cell lines - groups of cells that can grow indefinitely and differentiate into any cells of the body- were successfully developed. The genetic material (DNA) of cell lines was then matched to DNA from the male donor monkey to ensure that they were a direct clone.Successful development of the cell lines required numerous attempts. Overall, 304 monkey eggs (oocytes) from 14 female rhesus monkeys were used to generate the two embryonic stem cell lines, a .7 percent success rate“While development of the stem cell lines required hundreds of attempts, this research proves odicity of approximately 24 h. Progression of the cell division cycle (CDC) has been found to be coupled to the circadian clock, and it has been postulated that gating of the CDC by the circadian cycle may have evolved to protect DNA from the mutagenic effects of ultraviolet light. When grown under nutrient-limiting conditions in a chemostat, prototrophic strains of budding yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, adopt a robust metabolic cycle of ultradian dimensions that temporally compartmentalizes essential cellular events. The CDC is gated by this yeast metabolic cycle (YMC), with DNA replication strictly segregated away from the oxidative phase when cells are actively respiring. Mutants impaired in such gating allow DNA replication to take place during the respiratory phase of the YMC and have been found to suffer significantly elevated rates of spontaneous mutation. Analogous to the circadian cycle, the YMC also employs the conserved DNA checkpoint kinase Rad53/Chk2 to facilitate coupliC.Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Karolinska Institute, Berzelius vag 35, Stockholm, SE-171 77, Sweden.During meiosis, DNA replication is followed by two successive rounds of chromosome segregation (meiosis I and II), which give rise to genetically diverse haploid gametes. The prophase of the first meiotic division is highly regulated and alignment and synapsis of the homologous chromosomes during this stage are mediated by the synaptonemal complex. Incorrect assembly of the synaptonemal complex results in cell death, impaired meiotic recombination and aneuploidy. Oocytes with meiotic defects often survive the first meiotic prophase and give rise to aneuploid gametes. Similarly affected spermatocytes, on the other hand, almost always undergo apoptosis at a male-specific meiotic checkpoint, located specifically at epithelial stage IV during spermatogenesis. Many examples of this stage IV-specific arrest have been described for several genetic mouse models in which DNA repair or]