title: Visualizing estrogen receptor-α-expressing neurons using a new ERα-ZsGreen reporter mouse line.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A variety of biological functions of estrogens, including regulation of energy metabolism, are mediated by neurons expressing estrogen receptor-α (ERα) in the brain. However, complex intracellular processes in these ERα-expressing neurons are difficult to unravel, due to the lack of strategy to visualize ERα-expressing neurons, especially in unfixed brain tissues.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Here we generated a novel ERα-ZsGreen reporter mouse line in which expression of a green fluorescent reporter protein, ZsGreen, is driven by a 241kb ERα gene promoter. We validated that ZsGreen is highly colocalized with endogenous ERα in the brain. Native ZsGreen signals were visualized in unfixed brain tissue, and were used to assist single cell collection and electrophysiological recordings. Finally, we demonstrated that this ERα-ZsGreen mouse allele can be used in combination with other genetic reporter alleles to allow experiments in highly selective neural populations.
authors.affiliation: Children's Nutrition Research Center, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030.
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.affiliation: Children's Nutrition Research Center, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030.
authors.forename: Yanlin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Children's Nutrition Research Center, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030.
authors.forename: Xiaofeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Children's Nutrition Research Center, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030.
authors.forename: Yongjie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Children's Nutrition Research Center, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030.
authors.forename: Chunmei
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Children's Nutrition Research Center, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030.
authors.forename: Pingwen
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Children's Nutrition Research Center, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030.
authors.forename: Antentor Othrell
authors.initials: AO
authors.lastname: Hinton
authors.affiliation: Children's Nutrition Research Center, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030.
authors.forename: Gang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Shu
authors.affiliation: Children's Nutrition Research Center, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030.
authors.forename: Likai
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030.
authors.forename: Qingchun
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.affiliation: Children's Nutrition Research Center, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030; Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030. Electronic address: yongx@bcm.edu.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D001111:Arcuate Nucleus of Hypothalamus / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D001923:Brain Chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D002460:Cell Line; D002469:Cell Separation / Q000379:methods; D055724:Electrophysiological Phenomena; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D011333:Pro-Opiomelanocortin / Q000378:metabolism; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000096:biosynthesis; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D000097983:ERRalpha Estrogen-Related Receptor
chemical_list: D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D011333:Pro-Opiomelanocortin; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen; D000097983:ERRalpha Estrogen-Related Receptor
keywords: Brain; Electrophysiology; Estrogen receptor-α; Transgenic mouse