Ex utero culture and live imaging of mouse embryos

Mouse genetic approaches when combined with live imaging tools have the potential to revolutionize our current understanding of mammalian biology. The availability and improvement of a wide variety of fluorescent proteins have provided indispensable tools to visualize cells in living organisms. It is now possible to generate genetically modified mouse strains expressing fluorescent proteins in a tissue-specific manner. These reporter-expressing strains make it possible to image dynamic cell behaviors in the context of a living embryo. Since mouse embryos develop within the uterus, live imaging experiments require culture conditions that closely mimic those in vivo. Over the past few decades, significant advances have been made in developing conditions for culturing both pre- and postimplantation stage embryos. In this chapter, we will discuss methods for ex utero culture of preimplantation and postimplantation stage mouse embryos. In particular, we will describe protocols for collecting embryos at various stages, setting up culture conditions for imaging and using laser scanning confocal microscopy to visualize live processes in mouse embryos expressing fluorescent reporters.