title: Generation of a mouse with conditionally activated signaling through the BMP receptor, ALK2.
abstract: BMP signaling plays pleiotropic roles in various tissues. Transgenic mouse lines that overexpress BMP signaling in a tissue-specific manner would be beneficial; however, production of each tissue-specific transgenic mouse line is labor-intensive. Here, using a Cre-loxP system, we generated a conditionally overexpressing mouse line for BMP signaling through the type I receptor ALK2 (alternatively known as AVCRI, ActRI, or ActRIA). By mating this line with Cre-expression mouse lines, Cre-mediated recombination removes an intervening floxed lacZ expression cassette and thereby permits the expression of a constitutively active form of Alk2 (caAlk2) driven by a ubiquitous promoter, CAG. Tissue specificity of Cre recombination was monitored by a bicistronically expressed EGFP following Alk2 cDNA. Increased BMP signaling was confirmed by ectopic phosphorylation of SMAD1/5/8 in the areas where Cre recombination had occurred. The conditional overexpression system described here provides versatility in investigating gene functions in a tissue-specific manner without having to generate independent tissue-specific transgenic lines.
authors.affiliation: Molecular Developmental Biology Group, Laboratory of Reproductive and Developmental Toxicology, 111 Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA.
authors.forename: Tomokazu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fukuda
authors.forename: Gregory
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Scott
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Komatsu
authors.forename: Runa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Araya
authors.forename: Masako
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kawano
authors.forename: Manas K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Ray
authors.forename: Masahisa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mishina
mesh_terms: D030201:Activin Receptors, Type I / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D000256:Adenoviridae / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D052004:Bone Morphogenetic Protein Receptors / Q000378:metabolism*; D003433:Crosses, Genetic; D005260:Female; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D019426:Integrases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D008957:Models, Genetic; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D015398:Signal Transduction; D019076:Transgenes
chemical_list: D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D030201:Activin Receptors, Type I; C498943:Acvr1 protein, mouse; D052004:Bone Morphogenetic Protein Receptors; C045073:Cre recombinase; D019426:Integrases