Heterozygous mice are viable and fertile, while homozygous mice present severe limb and skin defects and die at birth from dehydration. The ΔNp63Cre KI allele expresses Cre Recombinase from the Trp63 promoter/enhancer elements, resulting in absence of expression of ΔNp63 isoforms. ΔNp63 is expressed in basal epithelial cells and is required for normal development of the bladder and prostate glands. When these mice are bred with mice containing loxP-flanked sequence, Cre-mediated recombination will result in deletion of the floxed sequences in the Trp63-expressing cells of the offspring.
For example, when bred to B6.129X1-Gt(ROSA)26Sortm1(EYFP)Cos/J mice
(Stock No. 006148), removal of the floxed-STOP results in enhanced yellow fluorescent protein (EYFP) expression in urogenital sinus, and all epithelial lineages of the prostate and bladder. Fluorescence was also seen in the caudal gut endoderm and the stem/progenitor compartment of adult colorectal epithelium.
