Effect of different culture conditions on establishment of embryonic stem cells from BALB/cAJ and NZB/BINJ mice.

Abstract As the phenotype of a given single-gene mutation in mice is modulated by the genetic background of the inbred strain, embryonic stem (ES) cells derived from various inbred mouse strains are required to produce gene-targeted mice without the need for backcrossing and for detailed analysis of gene function in vivo. Here, we performed a comparative investigation of the effects of three culture conditions, LIF + KSR/ES medium described previously, High LIF + KSR/ES medium and iSTEM + LIF medium containing three inhibitors of glycogen synthase kinase 3, mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase, and fibroblast growth factor receptor signaling (3i), on the establishment of germline-competent ES cells derived from strains BALB/c and NZB mice. The results indicated that LIF + KSR/ES medium was permissive for the derivation of ES cells from NZB mice, which contribute to the somatic lineage in vivo, but not to the germline lineage. In contrast, ES cells that contribute to the makeup of chimeric mice were not...