Cryopreservation of caprine beta-lactoglobulin transgenic mouse embryos.

As an economical and safer alternative to the maintenance of transgenic animals as live stocks, transgenic embryo cryobanks can be generated and maintained indefinitely. Two-cell embryos obtained from four lines of caprine beta-lactoglobulin transgenic mice homozygous for the transgene were cryopreserved, and their response to cryopreservation-related stress was investigated. Significant differences between transgenic lines were found in the viability of frozen/thawed transgenic embryos and also in two-cell embryo production after superovulatory treatment of transgenic females. The results of this study suggest that cryopreservation protocols should be assessed on each transgenic line before the generation of transgenic embryo banks.