Inducible, tightly regulated and non-leaky neuronal gene expression in mice

Fabien Delerue, Michael White, Lars M. Ittner*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

19 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The Tetracycline (Tet)-controlled inducible system is the most widely used reversible system for transgene expression in mice with over 500 lines created to date. Although this system has been optimized over the years, it still has limitations such as residual transgene expression when turned off, referred to as leakiness. Here, we present a series of new Tet-OFF transgenic mice based on the second generation tetracycline-responsive transactivator system. The tTA-Advanced (tTA2S) is expressed under control of the neuron-specific Thy1.2 promoter (Thy-OFF), to regulate expression in the mouse brain. In addition, we generated a lacZ reporter line, utilizing the Ptight Tet-responsive promoter (Ptight–lacZ), to test our system. Two Thy-OFF transgenic lines displaying two distinct patterns of expression were selected. Oral doxycycline treatment of Thy-OFF/Ptight–lacZ mice demonstrated tight transgene regulation with no leak expression. These new Thy-OFF mice are valuable for studies in a broad range of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and related forms of dementia, where control of transgene expression is critical to understanding mechanisms underlying the disease. Furthermore, Ptight–lacZ reporter mice may be widely applicable.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)225-233
Number of pages9
JournalTransgenic Research
Volume23
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Apr 2014
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Doxycycline
  • LacZ reporter
  • Leakage
  • TET system
  • Thy1.2 promoter
  • Transgenic mice

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