These Pitx2flox mice possess loxP sites flanking exon 4 of the paired-like homeodomain transcription factor 2 (Pitx2) gene. PITX2 is a transcription factor expressed in many tissues including the hypothalamus, eye, mandible, pituitary gland, and heart. PITX2 is involved in memory processing and regulating neural axonal migration. Mutations in PITX2 have been associated with Rieger syndrome, a haploinsufficiency disorder affecting the eyes and teeth. Homozygotes are viable, fertile, and normal in size. When these mutant mice are bred to mice that express Cre recombinase, resulting offspring will have exon 4 deleted in cre-expressing tissues.
For example, when bred to B6.Cg-Tg(Nes-cre)1Kln/J (Stock No. 003771) expressing Cre in the nervous system, the resulting offspring display an abnormal development of mammillothalamic tracts.
