An androgen-inducible proximal tubule-specific Cre recombinase transgenic model

To facilitate the study of renal proximal tubules, we generated a transgenic mouse strain expressing an improved Cre recombinase (iCre) under the control of the kidney androgen-regulated protein (KAP) promoter. The transgene was expressed in the kidney of male mice but not in female mice. Treatment of female transgenic mice with androgen induced robust expression of the transgene in the kidney. We confirmed the presence of Cre recombinase activity and the cell specificity by breeding the KAP2-iCRE mice with ROSA26 reporter mice. X-Gal staining of kidney sections from male double transgenic mice showed robust staining in the epithelial cells of renal proximal tubules. beta-Gal staining in female mice became evident in proximal tubules after administration of androgen. This model of inducible Cre recombinase in the renal proximal tubule should provide a novel useful tool for studying the physiological significance of genes expressed in the renal proximal tubule. This has advantages over other current models where Cre recombinase expression is constitutive, not inducible.