Mice homozygous for this "floxed" Notch1 allele (fN1) are viable and fertile. In the targeted allele, loxP sites were placed flanking exon 1 of the targeted gene. When these floxed mice are bred to mice expressing Cre recombinase, exon 1 of the targeted gene is deleted in cre-expressing tissue(s) in the cre-positive, homozygous floxed offspring. These conditional knockout mice may be useful in generating tissue-specific mutants for studying the development of a wide range of tissues: for example, when crossed to a strain expressing Cre recombinase primarily in the nervous system (see Stock No. 003771), this mutant strain may be useful in studies of apoptosis in neural development.
When crossed to a strain expressing a differential Cre mediated reporter protein labeling: Notch1 signaling in actively cycling stem/progenitor cells (see Stock No. 006953), this mutant strain may be useful in studies of loss of Notch1 heterozygosity.
When bred to mice carrying Tg(Wnt1-cre)11Rth (Stock No. 009107), Cre recombinase expression in the midbrain and developing neural tube results in postnatal lethality.
