Expression of pMGN(-4k)LacZ-neo Gene Introduced into Embryonic Stem Cells In Vitro

Abstract

We attempted to produce a muscle-specific cell marker, which would be useful for examining myogenesis, by introducing pMGN(-4k)LacZ-neo gene into ESD3 cells, and expression of the transgene was analyzed in embryoid bodies. The gene expression analysis of embryoid bodies indicated that transfected cells did not express LacZ gene in an undifferentiated state and that the number of cells with LacZ expression increased progressively. In DMSO treated embryoid bodies, the number of cells expressing LacZ gene tended to increase more rapidly than that of untreated ones. The results suggested that the DMSO may induce mesodermal differentiation of ES cells and that the sublines obtained might be useful as muscle-specific cell markers since they might express lacZ gene at the time of myogenin expression.