Construction of an allogenic chimeric mouse model for the study of the behaviors of donor stem cells in vivo.
BACKGROUND
It is essential to establish an animal model for the elucidation of the biological behaviors of stem cells in vivo. We constructed a chimeric animal model by in utero transplantation for investigation of stem cell transplantation.


METHODS
This chimerism was achieved by injecting the stem cells derived from the bone marrow of green fluorescence protein (GFP)-transgenic mice into fetal mice at 13.5 days of gestation. Several methods such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR), real-time PCR, fluorescence-assisted cell sorting (FACS) and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) were used for the observation of donor cells.


RESULTS
Under a fluorescence microscope, we observed the GFP cells of donor-origin in a recipient. PCR, FACS analysis and FISH indicated chimerism at various intervals. Real-time PCR indicated that some donor cells existed in chimera for more than 6 months.


CONCLUSIONS
Allogenic stem cells may exist in recipients for a long time and this allogenic animal model provides a useful tool for studying the behavior of hematopoietic stem cells and also offers an effective model system for the study of stem cells.
Wang
Mo-lin
ML
Shanghai Institute of Medical Genetics, Shanghai Children's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200040, China.
Yan
Jing-bin
JB
Xiao
Yan-ping
YP
Huang
Shu-zhen
SZ
D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D051379:Mice; D023421:Models, Animal; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D018183:Transplantation Chimera; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous