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Reporter Genes

Reporter Genes

Reporter genes are a type of protein-coding gene that are often tagged to a gene of interest. Once inside a target cell, reporter genes usually produce visually identifiable characteristics like fluorescence and luminescence when expressed along with the gene of interest. Thus, reporter genes “report” the presence or absence of genes of interest in an organism, determine the gene expression pattern, or track the physical location of a DNA segment or protein in the cell.

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Updated: May 7, 2025

The c-FOS Protein Immunohistological Detection: A Useful Tool As a Marker of Central Pathways Involved in Specific Physiological Responses In Vivo and Ex Vivo

The c-FOS Protein Immunohistological Detection: A Useful Tool As a Marker of Central Pathways Involved in Specific Physiological Responses In Vivo and Ex Vivo

Published on: April 25, 2016

Abnormal c-Fos expression in TetTag mice containing fos-EGFP.

Jacob H Wilmot^1,2, Tracy L Warren^2,3,4, Cassiano R A F Diniz²

¹Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States.

Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience

|January 1, 2025

Summary

The Jackson fos-tTA/fos-shEGFP mouse model shows inflated c-Fos levels in the hippocampus due to a c-Fos-GFP fusion protein, not increased neural activity. This artifact limits its use for studying engram cells.

Keywords:

engram fear hippocampus memory mice

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Published on: May 20, 2022

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Molecular Biology
Genetics

Background:

Engram cells, neurons active during specific experiences, are studied using genetic tools like the fos-tTA transgenic mouse (TetTag).
Reactivation of engram cells is often assessed by measuring immediate early gene (IEG) expression.
Two TetTag mouse lines exist: one with fos-tTA and another (Jackson Labs) with both fos-tTA and fos-shEGFP.

Purpose of the Study:

To compare immediate early gene (IEG) expression in two different fos-tTA transgenic mouse lines.
To investigate the cause of unexpected c-Fos expression levels in the Jackson Labs mouse line.

Main Methods:

Examined immediate early gene (IEG) expression (c-Fos, Arc, Egr-1) in Jackson fos-tTA/fos-shEGFP and wild-type mice using immunohistochemistry (IHC).
Utilized quantitative PCR (qPCR) to analyze gene expression at the mRNA level.
Assessed behavioral outcomes, including fear expression and memory, in both mouse lines.

Main Results:

Jackson fos-tTA/fos-shEGFP mice exhibited significantly higher hippocampal c-Fos levels via IHC compared to wild-type mice.
Expression of other IEGs (Arc, Egr-1) and behavioral measures (fear, memory) were comparable between the two mouse lines.
qPCR confirmed the presence of a c-Fos-Exon1-GFP fusion mRNA in Jackson mice, suggesting it causes inflated c-Fos IHC signals.

Conclusions:

The Jackson fos-tTA/fos-shEGFP mouse line presents an artifactual elevation of c-Fos, likely due to a c-Fos-GFP fusion protein.
This artifact does not appear to affect overall neural excitability or behavioral outcomes related to fear memory.
Researchers should be aware of this limitation when using the Jackson fos-tTA/fos-shEGFP mouse line for engram cell studies.