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.
Lécureuil
Charlotte
C
Station de Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Université de Tours, Nouzilly, France.
Fontaine
Isabelle
I
Crepieux
Pascale
P
Guillou
Florian
F
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