| First Author | Chang YH | Year | 2020 |
| Journal | Exp Anim | Volume | 69 |
| Issue | 2 | Pages | 178-188 |
| PubMed ID | 31787710 | Mgi Jnum | J:302484 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:6508156 | Doi | 10.1538/expanim.19-0105 |
| Citation | Chang YH, et al. (2020) Uncovering the role of MAFB in glucagon production and secretion in pancreatic alpha-cells using a new alpha-cell-specific Mafb conditional knockout mouse model. Exp Anim 69(2):178-188 |
| abstractText | Cre/loxP is a site-specific recombination system extensively used to enable the conditional deletion or activation of target genes in a spatial- and/or temporal-specific manner. A number of pancreatic-specific Cre driver mouse lines have been broadly established for studying the development, function and pathology of pancreatic cells. However, only a few models are currently available for glucagon-producing alpha-cells. Disagreement exists over the role of the MAFB transcription factor in glucagon expression during postnatal life, which might be due to the lack of alpha-cell-specific Cre driver mice. In the present study, we established a novel Gcg-Cre knock-in mouse line with the Cre transgene expressed under the control of the preproglucagon (Gcg) promoter without disrupting the endogenous Gcg gene expression. Then, we applied this newly developed Gcg-Cre mouse line to generate a new alpha-cell-specific Mafb conditional knockout mouse model (Mafb(DeltaGcg)). Not only alpha-cell number but also glucagon production were significantly decreased in Mafb(DeltaGcg) mice compared to control littermates, suggesting an indispensable role of MAFB in both alpha-cell development and function. Taken together, our newly developed Gcg-Cre mouse line, which was successfully utilized to uncover the role of MAFB in alpha-cells, is a useful tool for genetic manipulation in pancreatic alpha-cells, providing a new platform for future studies in this field. |
