title: Development of a pituitary-specific cre line targeted to the Pit-1 lineage.
abstract: Tissue-specific expression of the Cre recombinase is a well-established genetic tool to analyze gene function in specific tissues and cell types. In this report, we describe the generation of a new transgenic line that expresses Cre under the control of the rat growth hormone releasing hormone receptor (rGhrhr) promoter. This promoter, chosen to target the anterior pituitary, drives cre-mediated recombination in cells of the Pit1 lineage, including somatotrophs, lactotrophs, and thyrotrophs. Cre activity is first detected at embryonic day 13.5, and gradually increases to reach high level expression by postnatal day 2. In addition to the pituitary, rGhrhr-cre expression was detected in vibrissae and in hair follicles of the proximal limb, but not in other tissues. The rGhrhr-cre line will be a valuable tool for the study of the development of the pituitary Pit1 lineage and for the study of tumorigenesis involving these cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Virology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
authors.forename: Zhirong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Williams-Simons
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rawahneh
authors.forename: Sylvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Asa
authors.forename: Lawrence S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Kirschner
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D019070:Cell Lineage; D005121:Extremities; D005260:Female; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D005821:Genetic Techniques; D019426:Integrases / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D010902:Pituitary Gland / Q000378:metabolism*; D010907:Pituitary Hormones / Q000378:metabolism; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D013997:Time Factors; D050817:Transcription Factor Pit-1 / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D019426:Integrases; D010907:Pituitary Hormones; D050817:Transcription Factor Pit-1; C494185:Pou1f1 protein, mouse; C045073:Cre recombinase