| First Author | Zhuang X | Year | 2005 |
| Journal | J Neurosci Methods | Volume | 143 |
| Issue | 1 | Pages | 27-32 |
| PubMed ID | 15763133 | Mgi Jnum | J:115426 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:3691568 | Doi | 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2004.09.020 |
| Citation | Zhuang X, et al. (2005) Targeted gene expression in dopamine and serotonin neurons of the mouse brain. J Neurosci Methods 143(1):27-32 |
| abstractText | We used a knock-in strategy to generate two lines of mice expressing Cre recombinase under the transcriptional control of the dopamine transporter promoter (DAT-cre mice) or the serotonin transporter promoter (SERT-cre mice). In DAT-cre mice, immunocytochemical staining of adult brains for the dopamine-synthetic enzyme tyrosine hydroxylase and for Cre recombinase revealed that virtually all dopaminergic neurons in the ventral midbrain expressed Cre. Crossing DAT-cre mice with ROSA26-stop-lacZ or ROSA26-stop-YFP reporter mice revealed a near perfect correlation between staining for tyrosine hydroxylase and beta-galactosidase or YFP. YFP-labeled fluorescent dopaminergic neurons could be readily identified in live slices. Crossing SERT-cre mice with the ROSA26-stop-lacZ or ROSA26-stop-YFP reporter mice similarly revealed a near perfect correlation between staining for serotonin-synthetic enzyme tryptophan hydroxylase and beta-galactosidase or YFP. Additional Cre expression in the thalamus and cortex was observed, reflecting the known pattern of transient SERT expression during early postnatal development. These findings suggest a general strategy of using neurotransmitter transporter promoters to drive selective Cre expression and thus control mutations in specific neurotransmitter systems. Crossed with fluorescent-gene reporters, this strategy tags neurons by neurotransmitter status, providing new tools for electrophysiology and imaging. |
