Establishment of a new embryonic stem cell line derived from C57BL/6 mouse expressing EGFP ubiquitously.

Transgenic mice ubiquitously expressing enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) are useful as marker lines in chimera experiments. We established a new embryonic stem (ES) cell line (named B6G-2) from a C57BL/6 blastocyst showing ubiquitous EGFP expression. Undifferentiated B6G-2 cells showed strong green fluorescence and mRNAs of pluripotent marker genes. B6G-2 cells were transferred into a C57BL/6 blastocyst to generate a germline chimera, the progeny of which inherited ubiquitous EGFP expression. Mice derived completely from B6G-2 cells were also developed from the ES cells; these were tetraploid chimeras. The established B6G-2 cells were shown to be pluripotent and to be capable of differentiating into cells of all lineages. Thus, the new ES cell line expressing EGFP ubiquitously is useful for basic research in the field of regenerative medicine. The B6G-2 cell line is freely available from the BioResource Center, RIKEN Tsukuba Institute (http://www.brc.riken.jp/lab/cell/english/).