First Author | Luche H | Year | 2007 |
Journal | Eur J Immunol | Volume | 37 |
Issue | 1 | Pages | 43-53 |
PubMed ID | 17171761 | Mgi Jnum | J:117041 |
Mgi Id | MGI:3695506 | Doi | 10.1002/eji.200636745 |
Citation | Luche H, et al. (2007) Faithful activation of an extra-bright red fluorescent protein in 'knock-in' Cre-reporter mice ideally suited for lineage tracing studies. Eur J Immunol 37(1):43-53 |
abstractText | The considerable potential of Cre recombinase as a tool for in vivo fate-mapping studies depends on the availability of reliable reporter mice. By targeting a tandem-dimer red fluorescent protein (tdRFP) with advanced spectral and biological properties into the ubiquitously expressed ROSA26 locus of C57BL/6-ES cells, we have generated a novel inbred Cre-reporter mouse with several unique characteristics. We directly demonstrate the usefulness of our reporter strain in inter-crosses with a 'universal Cre-deleter' strain and with mice expressing Cre recombinase in a T lineage-specific manner. Cytofluorometric and histological analyses illustrate: (i) non-toxicity and extraordinary brightness of the fluorescent reporter, allowing quantitative detection and purification of labeled cells with highest accuracy, (ii) reliable Cre-mediated activation of tdRFP from an antisense orientation relative to ROSA26 transcription, effectively excluding 'leaky' reporter expression, (iii) absence of gene expression variegation effects, (iv) quantitative detection of tdRFP-expressing cells even in paraformaldehyde-fixed tissue sections, and (v) full compatibility with GFP/YFP-based fluorescent markers in multicolor experiments. Taken together, the data show that our C57BL/6-inbred reporter mice are ideally suited for sophisticated lineage-tracing experiments requiring sensitive and quantitative detection/purification of live Cre-expressing cells and their progeny. |