Mice homozygous for this Gata4loxP conditional allele are viable and fertile, with loxP sites flanking exons 3-5 of the targeted gene. When bred to mice that express Cre recombinase, the resulting offspring will have this region (coding for both zinc finger DNA-binding domains and the nuclear localization signal essential for GATA4 function) deleted in the cre-expressing tissue(s). These GATA binding protein 4 conditional mice may be useful in generating conditional mutations for studying GATA4 function during organogenesis (such as cardiogenesis) or in adult mice.
For example, when crossed to a strain expressing Cre recombinase in cardiac myocytes (see Stock No. 009074), this mutant mouse strain may be useful in studies of cardiac hypertrophy, stress-compensation and myocyte viability.
When bred to a strain expressing Cre recombinase in heart muscle (see Stock No. 010581 for example), this mutant mouse strain may be useful in studies of cardiac hypertrophy.
