title: Podocyte-specific expression of cre recombinase in transgenic mice.
abstract: We report a transgenic mouse line that expresses Cre recombinase exclusively in podocytes. Twenty- four transgenic founders were generated in which Cre recombinase was placed under the regulation of a 2.5-kb fragment of the human NPHS2 promoter. Previously, this fragment was shown to drive beta-galactosidase (beta-gal) expression exclusively in podocytes of transgenic mice. For analysis, founder mice were bred with ROSA26 mice, a reporter line that expresses beta-gal in cells that undergo Cre recombination. Eight of 24 founder lines were found to express beta-gal exclusively in the kidney. Histological analysis of the kidneys showed that beta-gal expression was confined to podocytes. Cre recombination occurred during the capillary loop stage in glomerular development. No evidence for Cre recombination was detected in any of 14 other tissues examined.
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.
authors.forename: Marcus J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Moeller
authors.forename: Silja K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Sanden
authors.forename: Abdulsalam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Soofi
authors.forename: Roger C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Wiggins
authors.forename: Lawrence B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Holzman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015870:Gene Expression; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D019426:Integrases / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D007678:Kidney Glomerulus / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D009928:Organ Specificity; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D014018:Tissue Distribution; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D001616:beta-Galactosidase / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; C407223:NPHS2 protein; D014764:Viral Proteins; C045073:Cre recombinase; D019426:Integrases; D001616:beta-Galactosidase