First Author | Liang S | Year | 2023 |
Journal | Front Cell Dev Biol | Volume | 11 |
Pages | 1171637 | PubMed ID | 37215091 |
Mgi Jnum | J:338444 | Mgi Id | MGI:7484863 |
Doi | 10.3389/fcell.2023.1171637 | Citation | Liang S, et al. (2023) Generation and characterization of an inducible renal proximal tubule-specific CreERT2 mouse. Front Cell Dev Biol 11:1171637 |
abstractText | Protein reabsorption in renal proximal tubules is essential for maintaining nutrient homeostasis. Renal proximal tubule-specific gene knockout is a powerful method to assess the function of genes involved in renal proximal tubule protein reabsorption. However, the lack of inducible renal proximal tubule-specific Cre recombinase-expressing mouse strains hinders the study of gene function in renal proximal tubules. To facilitate the functional study of genes in renal proximal tubules, we developed an AMN (CreERT2) knock-in mouse strain expressing a Cre recombinase-estrogen receptor fusion protein under the control of the promoter of the amnionless (AMN) gene, a protein reabsorption receptor in renal proximal tubules. AMN (CreERT2) knock-in mice were generated using the CRISPR/Cas9 strategy, and the tissue specificity of Cre activity was investigated using the Cre/loxP reporter system. We showed that the expression pattern of CreERT2-mEGFP in AMN (CreERT2) mice was consistent with that of the endogenous AMN gene. Furthermore, we showed that the Cre activity in AMN (CreERT2) knock-in mice was only detected in renal proximal tubules with high tamoxifen induction efficiency. As a proof-of-principle study, we demonstrated that renal proximal tubule-specific knockout of Exoc4 using AMN(CreERT2) led to albumin accumulation in renal proximal tubular epithelial cells. The AMN (CreERT2) mouse is a powerful tool for conditional gene knockout in renal proximal tubules and should offer useful insight into the physiological function of genes expressed in renal proximal tubules. |