ISuRe-Cre is a Genetic Tool to Reliably Induce and Report Cre-dependent Genetic Modifications

Overview

Journal Nat Commun

Specialty Biology

Date 2019 May 24

PMID 31118412

Citations 25

Authors

Macarena Fernandez-Chacon

Veronica Casquero-Garcia

Wen Luo

Federica Francesca Lunella

Susana Ferreira Rocha

Sergio Del Olmo-Cabrera

Rui Benedito

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Most biomedical research aimed at understanding gene function uses the Cre-Lox system, which consists of the Cre recombinase-dependent deletion of genes containing LoxP sites. This system enables conditional genetic modifications because the expression and activity of the recombinase Cre/CreERT2 can be regulated in space by tissue-specific promoters and in time by the ligand tamoxifen. Since the precise Cre-Lox recombination event is invisible, methods were developed to report Cre activity and are widely used. However, numerous studies have shown that expression of a given Cre activity reporter cannot be assumed to indicate deletion of other LoxP-flanked genes of interest. Here, we report the generation of an inducible dual reporter-Cre mouse allele, iSuRe-Cre. By significantly increasing Cre activity in reporter-expressing cells, iSuRe-Cre provides certainty that these cells have completely recombined floxed alleles. This genetic tool increases the ease, efficiency, and reliability of conditional mutagenesis and gene function analysis.

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