1. Germline recombination in a novel Cre transgenic line, Prl3b1-Cre mouse
- Author
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Al-Sayed, Al-Soudy, Tsuyoshi, Nakanishi, Seiya, Mizuno, Yoshikazu, Hasegawa, Hossam H, Shawki, Megumi C, Katoh, Walaa A, Basha, Abdelaziz E, Ibrahim, Hany A, El-Shemy, Hiroyoshi, Iseki, Atsushi, Yoshiki, Youhei, Hiromori, Hisamitsu, Nagase, Satoru, Takahashi, Hisashi, Oishi, and Fumihiro, Sugiyama
- Subjects
Male ,Stem Cells ,Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental ,Cell Differentiation ,Placental Lactogen ,Spermatozoa ,Immediate-Early Proteins ,Gene Knockout Techniques ,Mice ,Germ Cells ,Testis ,Animals ,Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases ,Spermatogenesis - Abstract
Spermatogenesis is a complex and highly regulated process by which spermatogonial stem cells differentiate into spermatozoa. To better understand the molecular mechanisms of the process, the Cre/loxP system has been widely utilized for conditional gene knockout in mice. In this study, we generated a transgenic mouse line that expresses Cre recombinase under the control of the 2.5 kbp of the Prolactin family 3, subfamily b, member 1 (Prl3b1) gene promoter (Prl3b1-cre). Prl3b1 was initially reported to code for placental lactogen 2 (PL-2) protein in placenta along with increased expression toward the end of pregnancy. PL-2 was found to be expressed in germ cells in the testis, especially in spermatocytes. To analyze the specificity and efficiency of Cre recombinase activity in Prl3b1-cre mice, the mice were mated with reporter R26GRR mice, which express GFP ubiquitously before and tdsRed exclusively after Cre recombination. The systemic examination of Prl3b1-cre;R26GRR mice revealed that tdsRed-positive cells were detected only in the testis and epididymis. Fluorescence imaging of Prl3b1-cre;R26GRR testes suggested that Cre-mediated recombination took place in the germ cells with approximately 74% efficiency determined by in vitro fertilization. In conclusion, our results suggest that the Prl3b1-cre mice line provides a unique resource to understand testicular germ-cell development. genesis 54:389-397, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
- Published
- 2016