January 26, 2010
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New: JAX Now Offers NOD mES Cell Line

Diabetes Researchers - Save Time and Avoid Confounding Passenger Genes

mES cells 
Undifferentiated JAX® mES cells growing on a confluent monolayer of JAX® MEF feeder cells.
Thanks to a breakthrough in cell culture technology by a research team at the Whitehead Institute, Cambridge, MA (Hanna et al. 2009), you can now obtain NOD mouse embryonic (mES) cells from JAX. If you are researching autoimmune type 1 diabetes, this is particularly good news:

  • You can now target a gene directly in the NOD background
  • You save many months and thousands of dollars by no longer needing to breed and genotype mice to transfer the targeted gene from a 129 or B6 to an NOD background
  • You no longer have to worry about "passenger" genes – genes linked to the targeted gene or located randomly in the 129 or B6 genomes that could be introduced into the NOD background and modify or obscure the targeted gene's effects (Leiter et al. 2009)

JAX® NOD mES cells are isolated from gold standard JAX® Mice. They are self-renewing, non-transformed cell lines established from day 3.5 NOD blastocysts that are capable of differentiating into all three embryonic germ layers (endoderm, ectoderm, mesoderm). They are free of mouse pathogens and tissue culture contaminants and are suitable for studies in drug efficacy, regenerative medicine, and gene targeting. (Note: Commercial entities must obtain a license to use this cell line.)

Earlier B6 Passage Now Offered

We are now distributing C57BL/6J (000664) mES cells from an earlier passage (pasage #11 instead of #16)

In addition to our gold standard mES cell lines, we also provide superior quality MEF feeder cells and a full suite of services to facilitate your research with mice produced from mES cells. We can microinject your targeted ES cells, breed your mice to establish the line, genotype, phenotype, and deliver experimental cohorts as you need them, and cryopreserve the new line.

For more details about JAX® mES cell lines and associated services, contact us at 1-800-422-6423, 1-207-288-5845, or jaxservices@jax.org, or contact your regional representative.

How did the Whitehead Institute team do it? Essentially, they plated day 3.5 NOD blastocysts on mouse feeder cells and optimized conditions by supplementing stem cell culture medium with leukocyte inhibitory factor (LIF) and combinations of the small molecule inhibitors Kenpaullone (KP), PD184352 (PD), and CHIR99021 (CH).

References

(Authors in bold are Jackson Laboratory scientists.)

Hanna J, Markoulaki S, Mitalipova M, Cheng AW, Cassady JP, Staerk J, Carey BW, Lengner CJ, Foreman R, Love J, Gao Q, Kim J, Jaenisch R. 2009. Metastable pluripotent states in NOD-mouse-derived ESCs. Cell Stem Cell 4:513-24.

Leiter EH, Reifsnyder PC, Wallace R, Li R, King B, Churchill GC. 2009. NOD x 129.H2(g7) backcross delineates 129S1/SvlmJ-derived genomic regions modulating type 1 diabetes development in mice. Diabetes 58:1700-1703.