title: Geft is dispensable for the development of the second heart field.
abstract: Geft is a guanine nucleotide exchange factor, which can specifically activate Rho family of small GTPase by catalyzing the exchange of bound GDP for GTP. Geft is highly expressed in the excitable tissue as heart and skeletal muscle and plays important roles in many cellular processes, such as cell proliferation, migration, and cell fate decision. However, the in vivo role of Geft remains unknown. Here, we generated a Geft conditional knockout mouse by flanking exons 5-17 of Geft with loxP sites. Cre-mediated deletion of the Geft gene in heart using Mef2c-Cre transgenic mice resulted in a dramatic decrease of Geft expression. Geft knockout mice develop normally and exhibit no discernable phenotype, suggesting Geft is dispensable for the development of the second heart field in mouse. The Geft conditional knockout mouse will be a valuable genetic tool for uncovering the in vivo roles of Geft during development and in adult homeostasis.
authors.affiliation: The Center for Heart Development, Key Lab of MOE for Development Biology and Protein Chemistry, College of Life Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xiongwei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.forename: Kaiji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: Jiajia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Xiaoyang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Mo
authors.forename: Yun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.forename: Yongqi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wan
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Teng
authors.forename: Xiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Xiushan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D006321:Heart / Q000196:embryology*; D006706:Homeostasis; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D064067:Rho Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factors / Q000172:deficiency / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: C577427:GEFT protein, mouse; D064067:Rho Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factors