Tol2-mediated transgenesis and its application to electroporation

Abstract

The Tol2 element is an active transposon that was found from the genome of the Japanese medaka fish. Since the Tol2 transposition system is active in any vertebrate cells so far tested, it has been applied to germ- line transgenesis in various model animals including fish, frog, chicken, and mouse, and also gene transfer to culture cells. Recently, since the Tol2 system can enhance integration of exogenous DNAs into the genome, it has been successfully applied to transgene delivery to somatic cells in chicken and mouse embryos by means of in ovo and in utero electroporation, respectively, providing novel approaches to study cell differentiation and cell lineages.