Introduction of new genetic material into pluripotent haematopoietic stem cells of the mouse

Abstract

An infectious retrovirus vector was used to transfer a bacterial gene encoding resistance to the neomycin analog G418 [O-2-amino-2,7-dideoxy-.alpha.-D-glycero-D-glucoheptopyranosyl-(1 .fwdarw. 4)-O-[3-deoxy-4-C-methyl-3-methylamino-.beta.-L-arabinopyranosyl-(1 .fwdarw. 6)]-2-deoxy-D-streptamine] into pluripotent hematopoietic stem cells present in explanted murine bone marrow tissue. Subsequent transplantation of the cells into lethally irradiated mice results in engraftment of the animals with donor hematopoietic tissue containing the bacterial gene. This approach affords an efficient and rapid means of re-introducing genetically modified tissue into intact organisms and provides a system whereby the expression and regulation of cloned genes can be followed within the context of a well characterized developmental program.