Genome-wide screening for the genes essential for the maintenance of mouse embryonic stem cells

胚胎干细胞具有无限的自我更新能力和多向分化为多种细胞系的特点。为了将胚胎干细胞应用于再生医学，需要对这两个特征进行深入的分析。在本研究中，我们将基因陷阱策略应用于最近开发的小鼠单倍体ES细胞，并证明了通过插入突变来灭活基因的可行性。我们的诱变计划的大规模应用将加速基于表型的基因筛选，这些基因对于自我更新潜力和维持多能性至关重要。

Embryonic stem cells are characterized by unlimited self-renewal capacity and pluripotecy to differentiate into various cell lineages. In depth analyses of these two characteristics are needed in order to apply ES cells toward regenerative medicine. In the present study, we applied gene trap strategy to recently developed mouse haploid ES cells and demonstrated feasibility of gene inactivation through insertional mutageneisis. A large scale application of our mutagenesis scheme would accelerate phenotype-based screen for the genes essential for self-renewal potential and maintenance of pluripotency