SPC-Cre-ERT2 transgenic mouse for temporal gene deletion in alveolar epithelial cells.
Although several Cre-loxP-based gene knockout mouse models have been generated for the study of gene function in alveolar epithelia in the lung, their applications are still limited. In this study, we developed a SPC-Cre-ER(T2) mouse model, in which a tamoxifen-inducible Cre recombinase (Cre-ER(T2)) is under the control of the human surfactant protein C (SPC) promoter. The specificity and efficiency of Cre-ER(T2) activity was first evaluated by crossing SPC-Cre-ER(T2) mouse with ROSA26R mouse, a β-galactosidase reporter strain. We found that Cre-ER(T2) was expressed in 30.7% type II alveolar epithelial cells of SPC-Cre-ER(T2)/ROSA26R mouse lung tissues in the presence of tamoxifen. We then tested the tamoxifen-inducible recombinase activity of Cre-ER(T2) in a mouse strain bearing TSC1 conditional knockout alleles (TSC1(fx/fx)). TSC1 deletion was detected in the lungs of tamoxifen treated SPC-Cre-ER(T2)/TSC1(fx/fx) mice. Therefore this SPC-Cre-ER(T2) mouse model may be a valuable tool to investigate functions of genes in lung development, physiology and disease.
Department of Respiratory Medicine, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
Yao-Song
YS
Gui
Lianmei
L
Wang
Xinlun
X
Tian
Ruie
R
Feng
Aiping
A
Ma
Baiqiang
B
Cai
Hongbing
H
Zhang
Kai-Feng
KF
Xu
D000818:Animals; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D017353:Gene Deletion; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D019426:Integrases / Q000235:genetics*; D008168:Lung / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D011650:Pulmonary Alveoli / Q000166:cytology*; D037721:Pulmonary Surfactant-Associated Protein C / Q000235:genetics*; D013629:Tamoxifen / Q000494:pharmacology; D001616:beta-Galactosidase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
D037721:Pulmonary Surfactant-Associated Protein C; C489679:SFTPC protein, human; D013629:Tamoxifen; C045073:Cre recombinase; D019426:Integrases; D001616:beta-Galactosidase