Dkk3-Cre BAC transgenic mouse line: a tool for highly efficient gene deletion in retinal progenitor cells.
To establish the genetic tools for conditional gene deletion in mouse retinal progenitors, we generated a Dkk3-Cre transgenic mouse line using bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) transgenesis. Cre recombination efficiency in vivo was assayed by crossing this transgenic line, termed BAC-Dkk3-Cre, with the CAG-CAT-Z reporter line. This BAC-Dkk3-Cre line showed Cre recombinase activity in most retinal progenitors. Cre activity was detectable from embryonic day 10.5 (E10.5) and generally restricted to the retina during embryogenesis. To verify that BAC-Dkk3-Cre mice successfully circumvented lethality, we generated Otx2flox/flox/BAC-Dkk3-Cre+ mice as Otx2 conditional knockout mice. The Otx2flox/flox/BAC-Dkk3-Cre+ mice were viable, and their retina showed loss of mature cell-type markers of photoreceptor cells, bipolar cells, and horizontal cells, in contrast, amacrine-like cells noticeably increased. Thus, the BAC-Dkk3-Cre transgenic mouse line provides a powerful tool for generating conditional knockout mouse lines for studying loss of gene functions in the developing retina.
Department of Developmental Biology, Osaka Bioscience Institute, Suita, Osaka, Japan.
Shigeru
S
Sato
Tatsuya
T
Inoue
Koji
K
Terada
Isao
I
Matsuo
Shinichi
S
Aizawa
Yasuo
Y
Tano
Takashi
T
Fujikado
Takahisa
T
Furukawa
D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing; D000818:Animals; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D002470:Cell Survival; D022202:Chromosomes, Artificial, Bacterial; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D017353:Gene Deletion; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D019426:Integrases / Q000235:genetics*; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D012160:Retina / Q000166:cytology*; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D019076:Transgenes / Q000502:physiology
D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing; C405061:Dkk3 protein, mouse; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; C045073:Cre recombinase; D019426:Integrases