Hansen, et al. (2003). A large-scale, gene-driven mutagenesis approach for the functional analysis of the mouse genome.

[Wise Young]

• Hansen J, Floss T, Van Sloun P, Fuchtbauer EM, Vauti F, Arnold HH, Schnutgen F, Wurst W, Von Melchner H and Ruiz P (2003). A large-scale, gene-driven mutagenesis approach for the functional analysis of the mouse genome. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 100:9918-22. Summary: A major challenge of the postgenomic era is the functional characterization of every single gene within the mammalian genome. In an effort to address this challenge, we assembled a collection of mutations in mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells, which is the largest publicly accessible collection of such mutations to date. Using four different gene-trap vectors, we generated 5,142 sequences adjacent to the gene-trap integration sites (gene-trap sequence tags; http://genetrap.de) from >11,000 ES cell clones. Although most of the gene-trap vector insertions occurred randomly throughout the genome, we found both vector-independent and vector-specific integration "hot spots." Because >50% of the hot spots were vector-specific, we conclude that the most effective way to saturate the mouse genome with gene-trap insertions is by using a combination of gene-trap vectors. When a random sample of gene-trap integrations was passaged to the germ line, 59% (17 of 29) produced an observable phenotype in transgenic mice, a frequency similar to that achieved by conventional gene targeting. Thus, gene trapping allows a large-scale and cost-effective production of ES cell clones with mutations distributed throughout the genome, a resource likely to accelerate genome annotation and the in vivo modeling of human disease. Institute of Developmental Genetics, GSF-National Research Center for Environment and Health, D-85764 Neuherberg, Germany.