title: Transgenic Xenopus laevis strain expressing cre recombinase in muscle cells.
abstract: For reproducible analyses of gene function in Xenopus, the use of transgenic strains is a promising approach but has limitations when investigating factors interfering with development. Therefore, inducible systems are attractive alternatives, and a binary system based on recombinases is a most versatile approach. We have shown previously that Cre and FLP recombinases are active in Xenopus laevis and can induce a silent reporter gene in a corresponding reporter strain. Here, we describe the establishment of the transgenic Xenopus laevis strain A7 expressing Cre recombinase under the control of the muscle-specific cardiac actin promoter. Upon crossing to several distinct reporter strains, A7 is able to induce EYFP, DsRed2, or LacZ reporter genes in a muscle-specific manner. This first Cre-expressing strain allows conditional activation of any gene of interest in muscle cells and, thus, opens up the use of recombinases as a new experimental strategy in Xenopus.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Zellbiologie (Tumorforschung), Universitätsklinikum Essen, Essen, Germany.
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Waldner
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sakamaki
authors.forename: Naoto
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ueno
authors.forename: Gülüzar
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Turan
authors.forename: Gerhart U
authors.initials: GU
authors.lastname: Ryffel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D019070:Cell Lineage; D019976:Cloning, Organism / Q000379:methods*; D003433:Crosses, Genetic; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D017930:Genes, Reporter / Q000235:genetics; D019426:Integrases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D007763:Lac Operon / Q000235:genetics; D007814:Larva / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D008164:Luminescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D032342:Muscle Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology*; D014982:Xenopus laevis / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D000097573:Red Fluorescent Protein
chemical_list: D019426:Integrases; D008164:Luminescent Proteins; D000097573:Red Fluorescent Protein; C045073:Cre recombinase