Keratin 8 is an intermediate filament cytoskeleton protein and is protective in TNF- and Fas-mediated apoptosis. Merkel cells are neuroendocrine cells found in touch domes (mechanoreceptor zones in the skin) of the epithelial basal layer and some mucosa. Merkel cells express both intermediate filaments and neuropeptides. These transgenic mice express CreERT2 under the direction of the mouse Krt8, keratin 8, promoter. When these K8-CreER mice, founder line 17, are bred with mice containing a loxP-flanked sequence of interest, tamoxifen-inducible, Cre-mediated recombination will result in deletion of the flanked sequences in Merkel cells and simple epithelia. When bred to ROSA-YFP reporter mice, pulse/chase adminstration of tamoxifen results in the fluorescent labeling of mammary gland luminal epithelial cells. Mice that are homozygous for the targeted mutation are viable, fertile and normal in size. The Donating Investigator reports that there is no difference in phenotype between hemizygotes and homozygotes.

These K8-CreER transgenic mice express the Cre-ERT2 fusion gene under control of the mouse Krt8 promoter. They may have applications related to lineage tracing. When bred with mice containing a loxP-flanked sequence, tamoxifen-inducible, Cre-mediated recombination will result in deletion of the flanked sequences in mammary gland luminal epithelial cells.

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