B6(Cg)-Sox6^{tm2.1(cre/ERT2)Awar}/J

Stock number: 040638
Product name: Sox6-CreER^T2
Research areas: Cell Biology Research, Neurobiology Research, Research Tools

Description

Sox6-CreER^T2 knock-in/knock-out mice express cre/ERT2 under the control of the endogenous Sox6 promoter. The insertion of the cre/ERT2 sequence abolishes Sox6 expression. These mice may be useful when studying the role of SOX6 in embryonic development and determination of cell fate.

Detailed description

Sox6-CreER^T2 knock-in/knock-out mice express cre/ERT2 under the control of the endogenous SRY (sex determining region Y)-box 6 (Sox6) promoter. The insertion of the cre/ERT2 sequence abolishes Sox6 expression. Sox6 encodes a transcription factor involved in the lineage determination and differentiation of discrete cell types from embryonic development into adulthood. These cell types include chondrocytes, interneurons, and skeletal and cardiac muscle cells.

When these Sox6-CreER^T2 mice are bred with mice containing loxP-flanked sequences, tamoxifen-inducible Cre-mediated recombination will result in deletion of floxed sequences in cre-expressing cells of the offspring. Mice that are homozygous for this knock-in/knock-out allele are embryonic lethal.

The donating investigator bred these Sox6-Cre mice to the FLP reporter strain, RC-FSF-tdTomato (Stock No. 032864), which is a conditional allele designed with an frt-flanked STOP cassette preventing transcription of the tdTomato red fluorescent protein gene. Further breeding to Nes-LSL-Flpo mice (Stock No. 040639) results in the removal of the flanked STOP cassettes by FLP- and Cre-recombination after tamoxifen administration. In these mice, tdTomato will be permanently activated in Sox6+ progenitors during a finite time window after induction with tamoxifen. Specifically, substantial mosaic tdTomato labeling is evident in the forebrain when pregnant dams are administered tamoxifen at E12.5, and embryos are harvested at E18.5.

Of note, the donating investigator made a panel of mice useful for studying the role of SOX6 in embryonic development and determination of the cell fate:
Sox6-FSF-Cre mice are flp-inducible and are available as Stock No. 040635
Sox6-Cre mice are available as Stock No. 040636
Sox6-CreER^T2 are available as Stock No. 040638

Development

The Sox6-CreER^T2 targeting vector has an FRT-STOP-Puro-FRT cassette inserted in the intronic region between exons 2 and 3 of the endogenous SRY (sex determining region Y)-box 6 (Sox6) gene. An NLS-Cre/ERT2-polyA cassette was also inserted into the Sox6 gene in-frame with the endogenous ATG codon. The construct was electroporated into C57BL/6NTac-derived PRX-B6N embryonic stem (ES) cells. Correctly targeted ES cells were injected into blastocysts. The chimeric animals were crossed with C57BL/6NCrl females for germline transmission, and mice were subsequently bred to CAG-Flpe mice on a C57BL/6 genetic background to remove the FRT-STOP-Puro-FRT cassette. The donating investigator reports that the resulting Sox6-Cre mice were backcrossed to C57BL/6NCrl for an unknown number of generations. Cryopreserved sperm was sent to The Jackson Laboratory. To establish our live colony, an aliquot of frozen sperm was used to fertilize C57BL/6NJ oocytes (Stock No. 005304).

Allele

Symbol: Sox6^{tm2.1(cre/ERT2)Awar}
Name: targeted mutation 2.1, Rajeshwar Awatramani
MGI accession ID: MGI:6740239
Generation method: Targeted
Attributes: Recombinase-expressing; Inducible
Synonyms: Sox6-CreER^T2
Marker symbol: Sox6
Marker name: SRY (sex determining region Y)-box 6
Marker synonyms: HSSOX6; SOXD; TOLCAS
Chromosome: 7
Strain of origin: C57BL/6NTac
Molecular note: The FRT-STOP-Puro-FRT cassette was inserted into the intronic region between exons 2 and 3 and a NLS-Cre/ERT2-polyA was inserted into the Sox6 gene in-frame to the endogenous ATG. Flp-mediated recombination removed the STOP and selection cassette.