title: New Bapx1(Cre-EGFP)  mouse lines for lineage tracing and conditional knockout studies.
abstract: To gain insight into the roles of various genes in development and to circumvent embryonic lethality that hinders genetic studies, lineage tracing and conditional knockout techniques have been widely performed on mice using the increasing numbers of gene-targeted Cre mouse lines. Employing the internal ribosome entry site (IRES) and the 2A peptide multicistronic expression strategies, we report two new Bapx1 mouse lines with functional Bapx1 whereby Cre and enhanced green fluorescence protein (EGFP) are expressed discretely under the control of the Bapx1 promoter. These mouse lines, when mated with the Rosa26R-lacZ reporter line, can be used to trace the lineage of Bapx1-expressing cells whereas stage-specific, spatial expression of Bapx1 can be visualized by the EGFP fluorescence. In addition, both of our Bapx1(Cre-EGFP) mouse lines can be used to enrich for Bapx1-specific cells and also serve as effective conditional knockout tools to investigate gene functions in the skeleton and/or visceral organs.
authors.affiliation: Stem Cell and Developmental Biology, Genome Institute of Singapore, Singapore 138672.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sivakamasundari
authors.forename: Hsiao Yun
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Sook Peng
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Yap
authors.forename: Xing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xing
authors.forename: Petra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kraus
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lufkin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D019070:Cell Lineage; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D018390:Gene Targeting / Q000379:methods*; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D006824:Hybridization, Genetic; D017403:In Situ Hybridization / Q000379:methods; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; C107965:Nkx3-2 protein, mouse; D014157:Transcription Factors; C485184:enhanced green fluorescent protein; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins