title: Heat shock protein 2 promoter drives Cre expression in spermatocytes of transgenic mice.
abstract: We generated transgenic mouse line C57BL/6-Tg(Hspa2-cre)1Eddy/J (Hspa2-cre), which expresses cre-recombinase under the control of a 907-bp fragment of the heat shock protein 2 (Hspa2) gene promoter. Transgene expression was determined using Gt(ROSA)26Sor(tm1Sor)/J (ROSA26) and Tg(CAG-Bgeo/GFP)21Lbe/J (Z/EG) reporter strains and RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry assays. Hspa2-cre expression mimicked the spermatogenic cell-specific expression of endogenous HSPA2 within the testis, being first observed in leptotene/zygotene spermatocytes. Expression of the transgene also was detected at restricted sites in the brain, as occurs for endogenous HSPA2. Although the results of mating the Hspa2-cre mice to mice with a floxed Cdc2a allele indicated that some expression of the transgene occurs during embryogenesis, the Hspa2-cre mice provide a valuable new tool for assessing the roles of genes during and after meiotic prophase in pachytene spermatocytes.
authors.affiliation: Gamete Biology Section, Laboratory of Reproductive and Developmental Toxicology, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27709, USA.
authors.forename: Amy L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Inselman
authors.forename: Noriko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Paula R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: William D
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Willis
authors.forename: Eugenia H
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Goulding
authors.forename: Edward M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Eddy
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D055551:HSP27 Heat-Shock Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D019426:Integrases / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D009154:Mutation; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D013090:Spermatocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D013737:Testis / Q000166:cytology; D019076:Transgenes
chemical_list: D055551:HSP27 Heat-Shock Proteins; C486699:Hspb2 protein, mouse; D012333:RNA, Messenger; C045073:Cre recombinase; D019426:Integrases