Mycoplasma-mediated uptake of the exogenous human BRCA1 gene by hatching blastocysts

Purpose: Biological vectors for cell transfection are mainly viral in origin, with inherent shortcomings. Mycoplasmas are ubiquitous organisms that traverse cells easily. The objective was to determine if Ureaplasma urealyticum (T-mycoplasma) would vector exogenous BRCA I DNA into blastocysts. Methods: Hatching mouse blastocysts (N = 70) were incubated in the presence of either viable or dead Ureaplasma urealyticum at 37°C for 1 hr. The blastocysts were exposed to human BRCA1 DNA lacking homology in the mouse genome for 2 hr, followed by DNase-I treatment and wash. Polymerase chain reaction and agarose gel electrophoresis analysis of amplified products were performed. Results: The BRCA1 gene was detected in the blastocysts only when viable Ureaplasma was present. PCR analyses of control Ureaplasma and untreated blastocysts were negative. Conclusion: Viable Ureaplasma organisms were shown to mediate the uptake of DNA fragments into blastocysts, resulting in transgenic mouse blastocysts with a normal human BRCA1 exon II gene.