Gene Transfer into Murine Stem Cells and Mice Using Retroviral Vectors (original) (raw)

1. E.F. Wagner*,
2. G. Keller†,
3. E. Gilboa‡,
4. U. Rüther*, and
5. C. Stewart*
6. *European Molecular Biology Laboratory, D-6900 Heidelberg, Federal Republic of Germany; †Basel Institute of Immunology, CH-4005 Basel, Switzerland; ‡Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544

Excerpt

Biological processes such as stem cell differentiation and embryonic development are believed to be controlled by differential gene expression. The control of gene expression during differentiation and development is poorly understood, thus the ultimate aim of developmental biology is to study the role of individual genes in these processes in vitro and in vivo.

We have decided to study gene regulation in the context of embryonal stem cell lines, hematopoietic precursor cells, and in early mouse embryos. All of these systems exhibit a distinct developmental program that can be followed in vitro and in vivo in the whole organism. Because of the lack of developmental mutants available to the mammalian embryologist, gene transfer is used to analyze gene regulation. The various ways of introducing genes into stem cells and mice are summarized in Figure 1A. Such approaches allow us to analyze elements controlling the correct cell-specific and temporal expression of...