Cre-ative mouse mosaics

Cre-ating Somatic Cell Genetic Mosaics in the Mouse

Generation of somatic mosaics in which mutant cell clones are uniquely and completely labeled has yielded considerable insight into many biological processes in Drosophila. In this issue of Cell, describe a novel method called MADM that allows the generation of such mosaics in mice.

A global double-fluorescent Cre reporter mouse.

The Cre/loxP system has been used extensively for conditional mutagenesis in mice. Reporters of Cre activity are important for defining the spatial and temporal extent of Cre-mediated recombination. Here we describe mT/mG, a double-fluorescent Cre reporter mouse that expresses membrane-targeted tandem dimer Tomato (mT) prior to Cre-mediated excision and membrane-targeted green fluorescent prote...

Multipli ative Masking and Power

Heterogeneous transgene expression in the retinas of the TH-RFP, TH-Cre, TH-BAC-Cre and DAT-Cre mouse lines.

Transgenic mouse lines are essential tools for understanding the connectivity, physiology and function of neuronal circuits, including those in the retina. This report compares transgene expression in the retina of a tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-red fluorescent protein (RFP) mouse line with three catecholamine-related Cre recombinase mouse lines [TH-bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC)-, TH-, and...

A New Cre Driver Mouse Line, Tcf21/Pod1-Cre, Targets Metanephric Mesenchyme

Conditional gene targeting in mice has provided great insight into the role of gene function in kidney development and disease. Although a number of Cre-driver mouse strains already exist for the kidney, development of additional strains with unique expression patterns is needed. Here we report the generation and validation of a Tcf21/Pod1-Cre driver strain that expresses Cre recombinase throug...