Cre expression in primary spermatocytes: a tool for genetic engineering of the germ line

Transgenic mice were generated expressing a testicular Cre recombinase driven by promoter sequences derived from the gene encoding Synaptonemal Complex Protein 1 (Sycp1), expressed at an early stage of the male meiosis (leptotene to zygotene). Recombination at target LoxP sites was examined during germinal differentiation in mice harboring Sycp1-Cre and a second transgene where LoxP sites flank either the beta geo coding region, the Pgk1 promoter, or a tk-neo cassette inserted into the Rxr alpha locus. The LoxP-flanked transgenes were stably maintained in the somatic tissues of the double transgenic animals, as well as in the progeny of the females. Mice born after mating the double-transgenic males with normal females showed extensive deletions of the LoxP-flanked sequences. When the males were hemizygous for the Sycp1-Cre transgene, the deletions were observed even in the fraction of the offspring which had not inherited the Cre gene, thus demonstrating that expression occurred in the male parent during spermatogenesis. The high efficiency of excision at the LoxP sites makes the Sycp1-Cre transgenic males suitable for evaluating the role of defined gene functions in the germinal differentiation process.