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A Cre transgene active in developing endodermal organs, heart, limb, and extra-ocular muscle

Uta Grieshammer1, Pooja Agarwal, Gail R Martin

  • 1Department of Anatomy and Program in Developmental Biology, School of Medicine, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.

Genesis (New York, N.Y. : 2000)
|February 8, 2008
PubMed

Insights

We developed the Osr1-cre transgenic mouse line for precise gene manipulation. This line exhibits Cre recombinase activity in specific embryonic tissues, aiding developmental studies.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Biology
  • Genetics
  • Molecular Biology

Background:

  • Cre-mediated recombination is crucial for genetic studies in mice.
  • Efficient gene manipulation requires Cre recombinase expression in specific tissues or progenitor cells.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To introduce a novel transgenic mouse line, Osr1-cre, for spatiotemporal control of Cre-mediated recombination.
  • To characterize the expression pattern of Cre recombinase in the Osr1-cre mouse line.

Main Methods:

  • Generation of a transgenic mouse line expressing Cre recombinase under the control of the Osr1 promoter.
  • Analysis of Cre activity using reporter systems or downstream genetic readouts in embryonic tissues.

Main Results:

  • Osr1-cre displays Cre activity starting at embryonic day 11.5 in the posterior foregut, midgut, hindgut, and urogenital system endoderm.
  • Expression is also observed in the heart left atrium, extra-ocular muscle progenitors, and specific limb mesenchyme.
  • Cre activity extends to limb interdigital mesenchyme by embryonic day 12.5 and shows near-complete recombination in the bladder and urethral epithelium by embryonic day 14.5, including prostate progenitors in males.

Conclusions:

  • The Osr1-cre mouse line provides a valuable tool for studying gene function in a defined set of embryonic tissues.
  • Its unique spatiotemporal expression pattern offers new possibilities for genetic lineage tracing and functional analysis in developmental research.

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