Center for Molecular and Human Genetics, The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH, USA.
Cell Cycle. 2011 Jul 1;10(13):2091-9. doi: 10.4161/cc.10.13.16360.
Chimeras are organisms composed of at least two genetically distinct cell lineages originating from different zygotes. In the laboratory, mouse chimeras can be produced experimentally; various techniques allow combining different early stage mouse embryos with each other or with pluripotent stem cells. Identification of the progeny of the different lineages in chimeras permits to follow cell fate and function, enabling correlation of genotype with phenotype. Mouse chimeras have become a tool to investigate critical developmental processes, including cell specification, differentiation, patterning, and the function of specific genes. In addition, chimeras can also be generated to address biological processes in the adult, including mechanisms underlying diseases or tissue repair and regeneration. This review summarizes the different types of chimeras and how they have been generated and provides examples of how mouse chimeras offer a unique and powerful system to investigate questions pertaining to cell and tissue function in the developing and adult organism.
嵌合体是由至少两个来自不同受精卵的遗传上不同的细胞谱系组成的生物体。在实验室中，可以通过实验产生小鼠嵌合体；各种技术允许将不同的早期胚胎相互组合或与多能干细胞组合。在嵌合体中对不同谱系的后代进行鉴定，可用于跟踪细胞命运和功能，使基因型与表型相关联。小鼠嵌合体已成为研究关键发育过程的工具，包括细胞特化、分化、模式形成以及特定基因的功能。此外，还可以生成嵌合体来研究成年动物的生物学过程，包括疾病或组织修复和再生的机制。本文综述了不同类型的嵌合体及其生成方法，并举例说明了小鼠嵌合体如何提供一个独特而强大的系统来研究发育和成年生物体中细胞和组织功能的相关问题。
