title: Mouse embryos' fusion for the tetraploid complementation assay.
abstract: Production of the germline-competent chimeras using genetically modified ES cell lines is an essential step in the establishment of novel mouse models. In addition chimeras provide a powerful tool to study the cell lineage and to analyze complex phenotypes of mutant mice. Mouse chimeras with tetraploid embryos are used to rescue extraembryonic defects, to analyze an impact of gene function on specific lineage, to study the interaction between embryonic and extraembryonic tissues, and to produce mutant embryos and mice for the phenotype analysis. Tetraploid embryos are generated by the fusion of two blastomeres of the mouse embryo. The applications of tetraploid complementation assay and the protocol are described below.
authors.affiliation: Toronto Centre for Phenogenomics (TCP), Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital, 25 Orde, Toronto, ON, Canada, M5T 3H7, marina.gertsenstein@phenogenomics.ca.
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gertsenstein
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002449:Cell Aggregation; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D002459:Cell Fusion; D004624:Embryo Transfer; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian; D053595:Embryonic Stem Cells; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D051379:Mice; D057891:Tetraploidy