These Dicer1c mutant mice possess loxP sites flanking exons 25-27 of the Dcr-1 homolog (Dicer1) gene. Mice that are homozygous for this allele still contain a frt-flanked neo and are viable and fertile. DICER1 is an interference RNA (RNAi) enzyme required by the small temporal RNA pathways to produce the active small RNA component that represses gene expression. This enzyme is required for many cellular processes, including oocyte development. When bred to mice that express tissue-specific Cre recombinase, resulting offspring will have exons 25-27 deleted in the cre-expressing tissues.
For example, when bred to transgenic mice expressing Cre recombinase driven by the Zp3 (zona pellucida glycoprotein 3) promoter/enhanced elements (see Stock No. 003651 for example), oocyte mitosis is arrested at metaphase, leading to oocyte degradation and infertility.
When bred to a strain expressing Cre recombinase in embryonic primordial germ cells. (see Stock No. 008569 for example), this mutant mouse strain may be useful in studies of chromosome segregation and meiotic maturation.
