B6(129S4)-Mgl2^{tm1.1(cre)Aiwsk}/YkumaJ

Stock number: 037286
Product name: Mgl2-Cre
Research areas: Research Tools

Description

Mgl2-cre knock-in mice contain a Cre recombinase inserted into the 3' UTR of the Mgl2 (macrophage galactose N-acetyl-galactosamine specific lectin 2) locus. Cre recombinase activity is observed specifically in type 2 conventional dendritic cell subsets. This strain may be useful in studies of CD4 T cell priming in the lymph node.

Detailed description

Mgl2 (macrophage galactose N-acetyl-galactosamine specific lectin 2, also known as Cd301b) encodes a type 2 membrane protein that functions as a cell surface antigen. MGL2 is expressed specifically in type 2 conventional dendritic cell subsets that are required for effective CD4+ T cell priming and T helper type 2 effector CD4+ T cell differentiation in some immunization models.

Mgl2-cre transgenic mice have an EGFP/cre fusion inserted into the 3' UTR of Mgl2. The donating investigator notes that the EGFP is not detectable by flow cytometry, and is not believed to be visible by direct fluorescence. Sporadic low-level expression of cre is observed in germ cells or during early embryogenesis. In addition, homozygous mice have little to no expression of MGL2 protein. When cre transgenic mice are bred with mice containing loxP-flanked (floxed) sequences, cre-mediated recombination will result in deletion of floxed sequences in Mgl2-expressing cells in the offspring. Homozygous mice are viable and fertile with no reported phenotypic abnormalities.

Development

Mgl2-cre mice were created in the laboratory of Dr. Akiko Iwasaki at Yale University. The targeting vector contains an IRES-EGFP-cre-polyA cassette followed by an FRT-flanked neomycin resistant cassette (in reverse orientation) inserted into the 3' untranslated region (downstream of the stop codon in the last coding exon (exon 10) of the Mgl2 gene on Chromosome 11. The construct was electroporated into C57BL/6N-derived unspecified embryonic stem (ES) cells. Correctly targeted ES cells were injected into blastocysts. The resulting chimeric animals were bred to B6.129S4-Gt(ROSA)26Sor^tm2(FLP*)Sor/J (Stock No. 012930) to remove the neo cassette. Offspring were crossed together and maintained as homozygotes. Mice from the colony were transferred to Dr. Yosuke Kumamoto at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and maintained for multiple generations. Upon arrival, mice were bred to C57BL/6J for at least 1 generation to establish the colony.

In 2022, a 48 SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) panel analysis, with 43 markers covering all 19 chromosomes and the X chromosome, as well as 5 markers that distinguish between the C57BL/6J and C57BL/6N substrains, was performed on the mice sent to The Jackson Laboratory Repository. All 5 markers that determine C57BL/6J from C57BL/6N were found to be segregating. These data suggest the mice sent to The Jackson Laboratory Repository were on a mixed C57BL/6N;C57BL/6J genetic background.

Allele

Symbol: Mgl2^{tm1.1(cre)Aiwsk}
Name: targeted mutation 1.1, Akiko Iwasaki
MGI accession ID: MGI:7254996
Generation method: Targeted
Attributes: Recombinase-expressing
Synonyms: Mgl2-cre
Marker symbol: Mgl2
Marker name: macrophage galactose N-acetyl-galactosamine specific lectin 2
Marker synonyms: CD301; CD301b; CLECSF13; CLECSF14; DC-ASGPR; HML; HML2; MGL; Mgl1; Mgll
Chromosome: 11
Strain of origin: C57BL/6N
Molecular note: The targeting vector contains an IRES-EGFP-cre-polyA cassette followed by an FRT-flanked neomycin resistant cassette (in reverse orientation) inserted into the 3' untranslated region (downstream of the stop codon in the last coding exon (exon 10). Flp-mediated recombination removed the FRT-flanked neo cassette. EGFP is not detectable by flow cytometry, and is not believed to be visible by direct fluorescence. Sporadic low-level expression of cre is observed in germ cells or during early embryogenesis. In addition, homozygous mice have little to no expression of MGL2 protein.