title: Generation of a dual-color reporter mouse line to monitor spermatogenesis in vivo.
abstract: In vivo fluorescent imaging technique is a strong tool to visualize the various cellular events such as the proliferation, differentiation, migration, and a lineage tracing in living cells requiring no further experimental procedure such as immunostaining. During spermatogenesis, unique and dynamic histone exchanges occur. Since the timing and types of histone exchanges defines the particular stages of spermatogenesis, visualizing certain types of histones in testes is useful not only for researching specific histone dynamics, but also for monitoring the stages of spermatogenesis in vivo. In this study, we report the establishment of two transgenic (Tg) mouse lines expressing histone H4-Venus (H4V) and histone H3.3-mCherry (H33C) fusion proteins in testicular germ cells, and demonstrated their utility for monitoring germ cell development in vivo. Because of the choice of promoter as well as the nature of these histones, H4V and H33C were exclusively expressed in the germ cells of the distinct stages, which allowed the determination of spermatogenic stages in real time. In addition, disappearance of H4V and H33C at particular stages of differentiation/fertilization also represented dynamic histone removal. Collectively, these Tg mice are a valuable resource not only for monitoring differentiation stages, but also for studying the chromatin dynamics of post-natal testicular germ cell development in vivo.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Pathology and Development, Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, The University of Tokyo Tokyo, Japan ; Career-Path Promotion Unit for Young Life Scientists, Center for the Promotion of Interdisciplinary Education and Research, Kyoto University Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshinori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Makino
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Pathology and Development, Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, The University of Tokyo Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Erina
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Pathology and Development, Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, The University of Tokyo Tokyo, Japan ; Department of Biotechnology, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Masashi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hada
authors.affiliation: Division of Molecular Pathobiology, Center for Zoonosis Control, Hokkaido University Sapporo, Japan.
authors.forename: Keisuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Aoshima
authors.affiliation: Reproductive Engineering Team, Institute for Virus Research, Kyoto University Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Satsuki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kitano
authors.affiliation: Reproductive Engineering Team, Institute for Virus Research, Kyoto University Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Hitoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Miyachi
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Pathology and Development, Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, The University of Tokyo Tokyo, Japan ; Career-Path Promotion Unit for Young Life Scientists, Center for the Promotion of Interdisciplinary Education and Research, Kyoto University Kyoto, Japan ; PRESTO, Japan Science and Technology Agency Saitama, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Okada
keywords: histones; homologous; reporter mice; spermatogenesis; spermatogonial stem cells; transplantation