C57BL/6J-Tg(Dct-cre/ERT2)40ALru/J

Stock number: 037591
Product name: Dct::CreER^T2
Research areas: Dermatology Research, Research Tools

Description

Dct::CreER^T2 mice express cre/ERT2 fusion gene from the dopachrome tautomerase (Dct) promoter. These mice may be useful for studying melanocyte stem cells (McSCs) and differentiation of melanocyte lineage cells.

Detailed description

Melanocytes (Mcs) are pigment producing cells primarily found in the epidermis and hair follicles (HFs), where they transfer melanin to keratinocytes in the inner hair shaft. In the HF, mature Mcs are found in the bulb, whereas Mc stem cells (McSCs) are found in the bulge. Dopachrome tautomerase (Dct) plays a role in melanin and pigment biosynthesis. In these Dct::CreER^T2 transgenic mice, expression of cre/ERT2 is directed by the mouse Dct promoter to McSCs with some expression also evident in the brain, olfactory bulb, and eyes. Restricted to the cytoplasm, cre/ERT2 can only gain access to the nuclear compartment after exposure to tamoxifen. Homozygotes are viable and fertile. When these mice are bred with mice containing loxP-flanked sequence, tamoxifen-inducible, Cre-mediated recombination will result in deletion of the floxed sequences in the Mcs and McSCs of the offspring.

Development

A 6.7 kb transgenic vector was generated including the mouse dopachrome tautomerase (Dct) promoter driving expression of a cre/ERT2 fusion gene (a Cre recombinase fused to a human estrogen receptor ligand binding domain) followed by an SV40 polyadenylation sequence. This transgene was microinjected into fertilized C57BL/6J oocytes. Dct::CreER^T2 mice from founder line 40A, with approximately 60 copies of the transgene inserted on Chromosome 1, was established.

Whole-genome sequencing showed that the transgene was inserted into the H4 region (AC121292.9) of chromosome 1 in an intergenic region between the H3.3 histone A (H3f3a) and the SDE2 telomere maintenance homolog (S. pombe) (Sde2) genes. The donating investigator reports that there is a deletion of 1,152 nucleotides located in an intergenic region on chromosome 1 (180,826,260 to 180,827,412). In a head-to-tail organization there are 62 copies of the transgene. The first copy of the transgene is truncated and has a size of 6,371 bp. There are approximately 60 copies of the full transgene, and then the last copy of the transgene is also truncated and has a size of 6,369 bp.

The founder mice were subsequently maintained by breeding transgenic mice with C57BL/6J inbred mice for at least 5 generations. Cryopreserved sperm was shipped to The Jackson Laboratory. Upon arrival, an aliquot of frozen sperm was used to fertilize C57BL/6J (Stock No. 000664) oocytes to establish our live colony.

Allele

Symbol: Tg(Dct-cre/ERT2)40ALru
Name: transgene insertion 40A, Lionel Larue
MGI accession ID: MGI:7425240
Generation method: Transgenic
Attributes: Recombinase-expressing; Inducible
Synonyms: Dct::CreER^T2
Marker symbol: Tg(Dct-cre/ERT2)40ALru
Marker name: transgene insertion 40A, Lionel Larue
Chromosome: 1
Strain of origin: C57BL/6J
Molecular note: A 6.7 kb transgenic vector was generated including the mouse dopachrome tautomerase (Dct) promoter driving expression of a cre/ERT2 fusion gene (a Cre recombinase fused to a human estrogen receptor ligand binding domain) followed by an SV40 polyadenylation sequence. The founder line 40A, with approximately 60 copies of the transgene inserted into the H4 region (AC121292.9) of chromosome 1 in an intergenic region between the H3.3 histone A (H3f3a) and the SDE2 telomere maintenance homolog (S. pombe) (Sde2) genes, was established.