title: Cre-mediated recombination in pituitary somatotropes.
abstract: We report a transgenic line with highly penetrant cre recombinase activity in the somatotrope cells of the anterior pituitary gland. Expression of the cre transgene is under the control of the locus control region of the human growth hormone gene cluster and the rat growth hormone promoter. Cre recombinase activity was assessed with two different lacZ reporter genes that require excision of a floxed stop sequence for expression: a chick beta-actin promoter with the CMV enhancer transgene and a ROSA26 knock-in. Cre activity is detectable in the developing pituitary after initiation of Gh transcription and persists through adulthood with high penetrance in Gh expressing cells and lower penetrance in lactotropes, a cell type that shares a common origin with somatotropes. This Gh-cre transgenic line is suitable for efficient, cell-specific deletion of floxed regions of genomic DNA in differentiated somatotropes and a subset of lactotrope cells of the anterior pituitary gland.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Genetics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5618, USA.
authors.forename: Igor O
authors.initials: IO
authors.lastname: Nasonkin
authors.forename: Mary Anne
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Potok
authors.forename: Sally A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Camper
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism; D005818:Genetic Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D013006:Growth Hormone / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D019426:Integrases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D051381:Rats; D011995:Recombination, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D052683:Somatotrophs / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D019076:Transgenes / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D013006:Growth Hormone; C045073:Cre recombinase; D019426:Integrases