These transgenic mice express Cre recombinase under the control of the rat tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) promoter. The transgene integrated into chromosome 9 causing a 624 kbp deletion in 7630403G23Rik locus. Mice hemizygous for the TH-Cre transgene are viable and fertile, with the rat tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) promoter directing expression of Cre recombinase to catecholaminergic cells. Using crosses to reporter strains, cre activity is confirmed in catecholaminergic cells and is present in many of the projection areas of these neuronal populations. A mosaic of cre activity is noted in TH-positive neurons. Several other areas that are not typically thought to have active TH expression, including the lateral septal nucleus, accessory olfactory bulb, suparafascicular thalamus, and pretectal area, also exhibit Cre recombinase activity (possibly as a result of TH promoter activity in precursor cell populations or ectopic expression from the exogenous TH promoter). Some TH-negative cells closely clustered around and within TH-positive nuclei demonstrate cre activity. When bred with mice containing a loxP-flanked sequence of interest, Cre-mediated recombination will result in deletion of the floxed sequence(s) in the offspring. These TH-Cre transgenic mice are a tool for generating conditional mutations in catecholaminergic cells and may be useful for studying dopaminergic cell function, Parkinson's disease, and other neurodegenerative disorders.
If the recombinase activity pattern of this allele is further characterized by the Genetic Resource Science group at The Jackson Laboratory, such findings will be reported on the Mouse Genome Informatics (MGI) Allele Detail entry (7630403G23RikTg(Th-cre)1Tmd). This same information would also be found searching the MGI Recombinase Activity database.
