Beyond knockouts: the International Knockout Mouse Consortium delivers modular and evolving tools for investigating mammalian genes.
The International Knockout Mouse Consortium (IKMC; http://www.mousephenotype.org ) has generated mutations in almost every protein-coding mouse gene and is completing the companion Cre driver resource to expand tissue-specific conditional mutagenesis. Accordingly, the IKMC has carried out high-throughput gene trapping and targeting producing conditional mutations in murine embryonic stem cells in more than 18,500 genes, from which at least 4900 mutant mouse lines have been established to date. This resource is currently being upgraded with more powerful tools, such as visualization and manipulation cassettes that can be easily introduced into IKMC alleles for multifaceted functional studies. In addition, we discuss how existing IKMC products can be used in combination with CRISPR technology to accelerate genome engineering projects. All information and materials from this extraordinary biological resource together with coordinated phenotyping efforts can be retrieved at www.mousephenotype.org . The comprehensive IKMC knockout resource in combination with an extensive set of modular gene cassettes will continue to enhance functional gene annotation in the future and solidify its impact on biomedical research.
Stem Cell Engineering, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, CB10 1SA, UK.
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German Research Center for Environmental Health, Institute of Developmental Genetics, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Ingolstädter Landstr. 1, 85764, Neuherberg, Germany.
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German Research Center for Environmental Health, Institute of Developmental Genetics, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Ingolstädter Landstr. 1, 85764, Neuherberg, Germany. Wurst@helmholtz-muenchen.de.|Technische Universität München-Weihenstephan, Lehrstuhl für Entwicklungsgenetik, c/o Helmholtz Zentrum München, Ingolstädter Landstr. 1, 85764, Neuherberg, Germany. Wurst@helmholtz-muenchen.de.|Deutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen e. V. (DZNE), Standort München Feodor-Lynen Strasse 17, 81377, Munich, Germany. Wurst@helmholtz-muenchen.de.|Munich Cluster for Systems Neurology (SyNergy), Adolf-Butenandt-Institut, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Feodor-Lynen Strasse 17, 81377, Munich, Germany. Wurst@helmholtz-muenchen.de.
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D000818:Animals; D064113:CRISPR-Cas Systems / Q000235:genetics; D053595:Embryonic Stem Cells / Q000145:classification*; D007391:International Cooperation; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout / Q000145:classification*; D058977:Molecular Sequence Annotation; D009154:Mutation