Sertoli and granulosa cell-specific Cre recombinase activity in transgenic mice.
We have established transgenic mice expressing the Cre recombinase under the control of the anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) gene promoter. Cre activity and specificity were evaluated by different means. In AMH-Cre mice, expression of the Cre recombinase mRNA was confined to the testis and ovary. AMH-Cre mice were crossed with reporter transgenic lines and the offspring exhibited Cre-mediated recombination only in the testis and the ovary. In male, histochemical analysis indicated that recombination occurred in every Sertoli cells. In female, Cre-mediated recombination was restricted to granulosa cells, but the protein was not evenly active in every cells. From these results, we conclude that potentially, this transgenic line possessing AMH promoter-driven expression of the Cre recombinase is a powerful tool to delete genes in Sertoli cells only, in order to study Sertoli cell gene function during mammalian spermatogenesis.
Station de Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Université de Tours, Nouzilly, France.
Charlotte
C
Lécureuil
Isabelle
I
Fontaine
Pascale
P
Crepieux
Florian
F
Guillou
D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D006107:Granulosa Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D019426:Integrases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D009928:Organ Specificity; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012708:Sertoli Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
D012333:RNA, Messenger; D014764:Viral Proteins; C045073:Cre recombinase; D019426:Integrases