Cre-inducible site-specific recombination in zebrafish oligodendrocytes.
The conditional Cre/lox system has recently emerged as a valuable tool for studies on both embryonic and adult Zebrafish. Temporal control and site-specific recombination are achieved by using the ligand-inducible CreERT2and administration of the drug tamoxifen (TAM) or its active metabolite, 4-Hydroxytamoxifen (4-OHT).



Here we report the generation of a transgenic Zebrafish line, which expresses an mCherry-tagged variant of CreERT2under the control of the myelin basic protein a (mbpa) promoter. Our analysis shows that larval and adult expression of the transgene recapitulates the endogenous mbpa expression pattern in oligodendrocytes. Furthermore, combination with a Cre-dependent EGFP reporter results in EGFP-expressing oligodendrocytes in the spinal cord, brain, and optic nerve in TAM- or 4-OHT-treated larvae and 4-month-old fish, but not in untreated controls.



The transgenic Zebrafish line Tg(mbpa:mCherry-T2A-CreERT2) elicits CreERT2expression specifically in myelinating glia cells. Cre-inducible targeted recombination of genes in oligodendrocytes will be useful to elucidate cellular and molecular mechanisms of myelination in vivo during development (myelination) and regeneration (remyelination) after injury to the central nervous system (CNS). It will also allow targeted expression and overexpression of genes of interest (transgenes) in oligodendrocytes at defined developmental and adult stages. Developmental Dynamics 246:41-49, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstraße 10, Konstanz, 78457, Germany.|Max Planck Institute for Brain Research, Max-von-Laue-Str. 4, 60438, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Alejandro
A
Pinzon-Olejua
Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstraße 10, Konstanz, 78457, Germany.
Cornelia
C
Welte
Biotechnology Center and DFG-Research Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden (CRTD), Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstr. 105, 01307, Dresden, Germany.
Avinash
A
Chekuru
Biotechnology Center and DFG-Research Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden (CRTD), Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstr. 105, 01307, Dresden, Germany.
Viktoria
V
Bosak
Biotechnology Center and DFG-Research Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden (CRTD), Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstr. 105, 01307, Dresden, Germany.
Michael
M
Brand
Biotechnology Center and DFG-Research Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden (CRTD), Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstr. 105, 01307, Dresden, Germany.
Stefan
S
Hans
Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstraße 10, Konstanz, 78457, Germany.
Claudia A O
CA
Stuermer
D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D003711:Demyelinating Diseases; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D019426:Integrases / Q000378:metabolism*; D004676:Myelin Basic Protein / Q000235:genetics; D009186:Myelin Sheath / Q000378:metabolism*; D009836:Oligodendroglia / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D019076:Transgenes; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000196:embryology* / Q000378:metabolism
D004676:Myelin Basic Protein; C045073:Cre recombinase; D019426:Integrases
Cre/lox system; glia cell-specific recombination; myelin basic protein promoter; myelination; oligodendrocytes; transgenic Zebrafish