Approaches used to improve epigenetic reprogramming in buffalo cloned embryos

The reproductive cloning in buffalo in India has been started using a simplified somatic cell nuclear transfer technique named handmade cloning. Since the birth of first cloned female buffalo in 2009, a number of buffalo clones have been produced in India by utilizing different types of donor cells such as ear cells, embryonic stem cells, semen somatic cells and urine somatic cells. The use of buffalo cloning on a large scale is restricted due to low pregnancy rates and poor calf survival. Considerable attempts have been made to improve the overall buffalo cloning efficiency, particularly by modifying epigenetic reprogramming of cloned embryos. Previous studies have demonstrated that chemical epigenetic modifiers such as trichostatin A and 5-aza-2’-deoxycytidine, m-carboxycinnamic acid bishydroxamide can be used to treat donor somatic cells and reconstructed fused embryos to correct the epigenetic reprogramming to enhance the overall cloning efficiency in terms of live birth rates.