Comparative Study on the Ability of Various Teratocarcinomas to Form Chimeric Mouse Embryos

Various embryonal carcinoma cells of different origins were compared as to the ability to form chimeric blastocysts by means of aggregating with normal 8-cell stage mouse embryos. The teratocarcinoma lines examined were OTT6050 and five newly established ones including a spontaneous testicular teratocarcinoma STT-2. The present results have revealed that distinct differences existed in the ability of colonizing blastocysts among teratocarcinomas and also among embryonal carcinoma cell lines. Since STT-2 stem cells were found to be incorporated into blastocysts most efficiently, further development of the blastocysts were examined in utero. It was found that STT-2 stem cells could be incorporated into the fetuses up to the 7-to 28-somite stages. This is the first case to demonstrate that testicular teratocarcinoma cells with the male germ cell origin have the developmental potency to participate into mouse embryogenesis.