A method for the generation of conditional gene repair mutations in mice

Conditional gene repair mutations in the mouse can assist in cell lineage analyses and provide a valuable complement to conditional gene inactivation strategies. We present a method for the generation of conditional gene repair mutations that employs a loxP-flanked (floxed) selectable marker and transcriptional/translational stop cassette (neostop) located within the first intron of a target gene. In the absence of Cre recombinase, expression of the targeted allele is suppressed generating a null allele, while in the presence of Cre, excision of neostop restores expression to wild-type levels. To test this strategy, we have generated a conditional gene repair allele of the mouse Huntington's disease gene homolog (HDH:). Insertion of neostop within the HDH: intron 1 generated a null allele and mice homozygous for this allele resembled nullizygous HDH: mutants and died after embryonic day 8.5. In the presence of a cre transgene expressed ubiquitously early in development, excision of neostop restored HDH: expression and rescued the early embryonic lethality. A simple modification of this strategy that permits the generation of conventional gene knockout, conditional gene knockout and conditional gene repair alleles using one targeting construct is discussed.