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Newly Available JAX® GEMM® Strains

JAX^® NOTES Issue 504, Winter 2006

We are pleased to announce that The Jackson Laboratory is now distributing the following JAX® GEMM® (Genetically Engineered and Mutant Mice) strains.

For ordering information, please contact Customer Service by e-mail at orderquest@jax.org or call 800.422.MICE (6423) or 207.288.5845.

B6.129S2-Thbs1^tm1Hyn/J (006141)

Homozygotes for this targeted mutation of the thrombospondin 1 (Thbs1) gene are viable and fertile. Approximately 20% of the embryos and neonates have an obvious, mild, and variable lordotic curvature of the spine and are not viable. Homozygotes produce an abnormal and shortened protein transcript in multiple tissues. Western analysis confirms the absence of the protein in platelets. Homozygotes have an abnormally high number of circulating white blood cells. During the first four to ten weeks of life, they exhibit patches of acute and organizing pneumonia. With age, various epithelial cell lineages exhibit considerable hyperplasia. Mutants also have an abnormally high number of retinal endothelial cells and, after injury, retinal vasculature exhibits inappropriate remodeling and maturation. Mutants with an FVB/N background have significantly more spontaneous tumor growth and vasculature than do wild-type controls. This strain may be used to research inflammatory responses in the lungs, eyes, and skin, angiogenesis and vascular pathophysiology, cancer, chemotherapy, apoptosis, and cell differentiation and migration.

STOCK Pten^tm1Hwu/J (006068)

This strain possesses loxP sites on either side of exon 5 of the targeted phosphatase and tensin homolog (Pten) gene. Homozygotes are viable, and look and behave normally. When used in conjunction with a Cre recombinase-expressing strain, this strain may be used to generate tissue-specific mutants of the floxed allele.

NOD/LtJ-Tg(Ins1-EGFP/GH1)14Hara/HaraJ (005282)

This transgenic strain expresses enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) fused to a 2.1kb fragment of human growth hormone under the control of mouse insulin promoter 1. The donating investigator reports that mice of this strain develop normally and have normal glucose tolerance and pancreatic insulin content. Histology confirms that the islets of these mice have a normal architecture and express both insulin and EGFP. The EGFP reporter allows the beta cells to be easily identified and purified for further studies.

129-Gt(ROSA)26Sor^tm1(EGFP)Luo/J (006053)

These mutant mice are viable and look and behave normally. Regardless of Cre-recombination, these mice express enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) because the beta-actin intron in-frame that interrupts the N- and C-terminals of the EGFP coding sequences splices EGFP together. EGFP expression is high in every cell and can be visualized in vivo and in fixed samples. This is a control EGFP-expressing strain to be used with MADM (mosaic analysis with double markers) strains 129-Gt(ROSA)26Sor^tm3Luo/J (006041) and 129-Gt(ROSA)26Sor^tm2Luo/J (006067). The three strains will be available as a set. By using the MADM system, researchers can generate genetic mosaics containing somatic cells of different genotypes and thereby determine lineal relationships and pleiotropic gene functions in multicellular organisms. This strain may also be used to research cell differentiation and mitosis.

B6.129X1-Gt(ROSA)26Sor^tm1(EYFP)Cos/J (006148)

This transgenic strain contains an enhanced yellow fluorescent protein (EYFP, Clonetech) gene inserted into the Gt(ROSA)26Sor locus. Homozygotes are viable, fertile, and look and behave normally. EYFP expression is blocked by an upstream loxP-flanked STOP sequence. In the offspring produced when this strain is bred to a strain containing the cre recombinase gene under the control of a promoter of interest, the STOP sequence of the targeted gene in the tissue of interest is deleted, and EYFP is expressed. This strain may be used to monitor Cre expression and trace the lineage of Cre-expressing cells in embryonic, young, and adult mice.

B10.Cg-H2^k Tg(NFkB/Fos-luc)26Rinc/J (006100)

This transgenic strain expresses the luciferase gene driven by two copies of the NF-kappaB (NF-kB or NFkB) regulatory element, now called v-rel reticuloendotheliosis viral oncogene homolog A (avian) (Rela). Hemizygotes for the transgene are viable, fertile, and look and behave normally. The presence of nuclear NF-kB DNA binding activity (as detected by electrophoretic mobility shift assay [EMSA]) is consistent with luciferase reporter activity. NF-kB transcriptional activity can be identified in any tissue. This strain may be used for immunology, cellular signaling, signal transduction, apoptosis, and transcription factor research.

B6.129S-Shh^{tm2(cre/ESR1)Cjt}/J (005623)

This strain expresses a fusion product involving Cre recombinase and a mutant form of the human estrogen receptor ligand binding domain from the endogenous sonic hedgehog (Shh) locus. The mutant human estrogen receptor does not bind natural ligand at physiological concentrations but does bind the synthetic ligand, 4-hydroxytamoxifen. Restricted to the cytoplasm, the Cre/ESR1 protein can only gain access to the nuclear compartment after exposure to tamoxifen. Tamoxifen administration induces Cre recombinase expression in all cells that express the endogenous gene, resulting in the deletion of the first 35 base pairs following the ATG. Homozygous mice are neither viable nor fertile. Heterozygotes are viable, fertile, and look and behave normally. This strain may be used to research limb patterning and development.

STOCK Tg(ACTA1-cre)79Jme/J (005936)

This transgenic strain expresses the cre recombinase gene driven by the human alpha-skeletal actin promoter. Hemizygotes are viable, fertile, and look and behave normally. Cre-mediated recombination in the offspring produced when this strain is bred to a strain containing a loxP-flanked sequence of interest deletes the flanked genome in striated muscle. Cre activity is restricted to adult striated muscle fibers and embryonic striated muscle cells of the somites and heart. Along with strains B6;129-Smn1^tm1Jme/J (005935) and STOCK Tg(Eno2-cre)39Jme/J (005938), this strain may be used to research spinal muscular atrophy (SMA).

STOCK Tg(Cp-EGFP)25Gaia/J (005854)

During development and adulthood, this strain expresses enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) in a wide variety of cell/tissue types, including enriched hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) populations. Homozygotes are viable, fertile, and look and behave normally. The location of EGFP expression is consistent with Notch signaling pathway elements/genes and faithfully reflects Notch activity. Expression is low in fully differentiated cells of the peripheral lymphoid organs (blood and spleen). Isolated HSCs retain their ability to differentiate. This strain may be used to research HSC populations and other cell types using the Notch, CBF1, or Wnt signaling pathways. Additionally, because immature (double negative [DN]) thymocytes have differential expression patterns as they progress from DN1-DN4, this strain may be used to research thymocyte maturation.