A mouse tool for conditional mutagenesis in ovarian granulosa cells
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 10, 2026

Ovarian Tissue Culture to Visualize Phenomena in Mouse Ovary
Published on: June 19, 2018
Beatrice Grabner1, Leander Blaas, Monica Musteanu
1Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Cancer Research, Vienna, Austria.
Abstract:
Here we describe the generation of an inducible Cre transgenic line allowing conditional mutagenesis in ovarian granulosa cells. We have expressed the tamoxifen inducible CreER(T)² fusion protein from a Bacterial Artificial Chromosome (BAC) containing the regulatory elements of the hydroxysteroid (17-beta) dehydrogenase 1 (Hsd17b1) gene. Hsd17b1-iCreER(T)² transgenic mice express the iCreER(T)² fusion protein exclusively in ovarian granulosa cells. Recombination analysis at the genomic DNA level using mice with "floxed" Stat3 alleles showed no Cre activity in absence of tamoxifen whereas tamoxifen treatment induced Cre activity solely in the ovaries. Further characterization of Hsd17b1-iCreER(T)² mice using a Cre reporter line demonstrated that Cre-mediated recombination was restricted to ovarian granulosa cells. Therefore, Hsd17b1-iCreER(T)² mice should be a useful tool to analyze the gene functions in ovarian granulosa cells.
Related Concept Videos
In-vitro Mutagenesis
In vitro Mutagenesis
Mouse Models of Cancer Study
The development of transgenic, knockout, and knock-in mice has led to an exponential increase in their use as model organisms in research,...

