Mouse astrocytoma models: Embryonic stem cell mediated transgenesis

The development of rational and targeted therapies for human astrocytomas i s heavily dependent on our knowledge of its molecular pathogenesis, combine d with the generation of appropriate pre-clinical mouse models. The ability to manipulate the mouse genome, which is nearing completion and is highly homologous to its human counterpart, has significantly accelerated our abil ity to create transgenic mouse models that replicate the pathological and m olecular characteristics found in human astrocytomas. These models should s erve to further our knowledge of the molecular pathogenesis of human astroc ytomas, and serve as useful reagents to test conventional and novel thera-b reak peutics.