Division of Molecular and Cellular Medicine, National Cancer Center Research Institute, Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0045, Japan.
Cell Mol Life Sci. 2011 Jun;68(11):1911-5. doi: 10.1007/s00018-011-0669-7. Epub 2011 Mar 25.
Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are derived from blastocysts and are capable of differentiating into whole tissues and organs. Transplantation of ESCs into recipient blastocysts leads to the generation of germline-competent chimeras in mice. Transgenic, knockin, and knockout gene manipulations are available in mouse ESCs, enabling the production of genetically modified animals. Rats have important advantages over mice as an experimental system for physiological and pharmacological investigations. However, in contrast to mouse ESCs, rat ESCs were not established until 2008 because of the difficulty of maintaining pluripotency. Although the use of signaling inhibitors has allowed the generation of rat ESCs, the production of genetically modified rats has been difficult due to problems in rat ESCs after gene introduction. In this review, we will focus on some well-documented examples of gene manipulation in rat ESCs.
胚胎干细胞（ESCs）来源于囊胚，能够分化为整个组织和器官。将 ESCs 移植到受体囊胚中会导致在小鼠中产生具有种系能力的嵌合体。转基因、基因敲入和基因敲除等基因操作在小鼠 ESCs 中是可用的，这使得能够生产基因修饰动物。大鼠作为生理和药理学研究的实验系统具有重要优势。然而，与小鼠 ESCs 不同，由于维持多能性的困难，大鼠 ESCs 直到 2008 年才建立。尽管信号抑制剂的使用允许大鼠 ESCs 的产生，但由于基因导入后大鼠 ESCs 存在问题，因此很难生产基因修饰大鼠。在这篇综述中，我们将重点介绍大鼠 ESCs 中一些经过充分记录的基因操作的例子。
