title: Construction of an allogenic chimeric mouse model for the study of the behaviors of donor stem cells in vivo.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Shanghai Institute of Medical Genetics, Shanghai Children's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200040, China.
authors.forename: Mo-lin
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Jing-bin
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: Yan-ping
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.forename: Shu-zhen
authors.initials: SZ
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: 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