Mice hemizygous for the transgenic insert are viable, fertile, normal in size, and do not display any gross physical or behavioral abnormalities. Expression of the transgene is directed by a neurogenin 3 promoter. Tissues where Cre recombinase expression is detected include the small intestine (base of intestinal crypts) and fetal pancreatic epithelial cells. Cre activity has been shown in islets of the adult pancreas, small intestine enteroendocrine cells, endocrine portions of the stomach, all pancreatic endocrine cells, and in some non-endocrine intestinal cells. When bred with a mouse containing a loxP site-flanked sequence of interest, Cre-mediated recombination results in deletion of the flanked gene in the tissues that normally express neurogenin 3.
In an attempt to offer alleles on well-characterized or multiple genetic backgrounds, alleles are frequently moved to a genetic background different from that on which an allele was first characterized. It should be noted that the phenotype could vary from that originally described. We will modify the strain description if necessary as published results become available.
