STOCK Epha7^tm1Ud/J

Stock number: 017445
Research areas: Developmental Biology Research, Neurobiology Research, Sensorineural Research

Description

In this strain, exon 1 of the Eph receptor A7 (Epha7) gene is deleted, abolishing gene expression. These mice may be useful for studying the development of retinocollicular projection.

Detailed description

In this strain, exon 1 of the Eph receptor A7 (Epha7) gene is deleted, abolishing gene expression. Homozygotes are viable, fertile, normal in size, and do not display any gross physical or behavioral abnormalities. EPHA7 is a member of the Eph family of receptor tyrosine kinases and acts as a repellent during axonal growth, suppressing branching. EPHA7 is expressed as a gradient (anterior > posterior) in the superior colliculus (SC). Homozygous Epha7^-/- mice exhibit some wiring defects in brain, where topographic mapping of both temporal and nasal axons is disturbed. These mice may be useful for studying the development of retinocollicular projection.

Development

A targeting vector was designed to replace exon 1 of the Eph receptor A7 (Epha7) gene with a loxP-flanked neomycin resistance (neo) cassette. The construct was electroporated into (129X1/SvJ x 129S1/Sv)F1-Kitl<+>-derived R1 embryonic stem (ES) cells. Correctly targeted ES cells were transiently transfected with a pIC-Cre expression plasmid to delete the neo cassette. Resulting ES cells were injected into blastocysts and resulting chimeric males were bred with C57BL/6 females. Resulting offspring were bred to CD1 outbred mice to establish a colony. Upon arrival, mice were bred to C57BL/6J inbred mice (Stock No. 000664) for at least one generation.

Allele

Symbol: Epha7^tm1Ud
Name: targeted mutation 1, Uwe Drescher
MGI accession ID: MGI:3583808
Generation method: Targeted
Attributes: Null/Knockout
Marker symbol: Epha7
Marker name: Eph receptor A7
Chromosome: 4
Strain of origin: (129X1/SvJ x 129S1/Sv)F1-Kitl⁺
Molecular note: Upstream sequence and exon 1, which contains the start coding and signal peptide, was replaced by a loxP-flanked neomycin selection cassette, which subsequently was removed via cre-mediated recombination. Sucessful ablation of the gene was confirmed by RT-PCR, in situ hybridization and Western blot analyses.