Abstract
Conditional genetic modifications are used to determine how individual molecules contribute
to the function of defined neuronal circuits in the mouse brain. Among various techniques
for these genetic modifications, the tetracycline transactivator and the Cre-loxP
systems have proved to be most successful in recent years. Here we describe the basic
principles, recent developments, and potential applications of these methodologies.
We discuss their impact on the study of general brain function and their use for modeling
different brain disorders.
Keywords
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to Biological PsychiatryAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- Expression of constitutively active CREB protein facilitates the late phase of long-term potentiation by enhancing synaptic capture.Cell. 2002; 108: 689-703
- Co-regulation of two gene activities by tetracycline via a bidirectional promoter.Nucleic Acids Res. 1995; 23: 3605-3606
- Tetracycline-controlled transcription in eukaryotes.Nucleic Acids Res. 1997; 25: 2723-2729
- Conditional inactivation of the calbindin D-28k (Calb1) gene by Cre/loxP-mediated recombination.Genesis. 2002; 32: 165-168
- Modified GFAP promoter auto-regulates tet-activator expression for increased transactivation and reduced tTA-associated toxicity.Brain Res Mol Brain Res. 2002; 101: 71-81
- Bypass of lethality with mosaic mice generated by Cre-loxP-mediated recombination.Curr Biol. 1996; 6: 1307-1316
- Respiration and parturition affected by conditional overexpression of the Ca2+-activated K+ channel subunit, SK3.Science. 2000; 289: 1942-1946
- A chimeric Cre recombinase inducible by synthetic, but not by natural ligands of the glucocorticoid receptor.Nucleic Acids Res. 1998; 26: 4086-4090
- A CamKIIalpha iCre BAC allows brain-specific gene inactivation.Genesis. 2001; 31: 37-42
- Transgenic animals with inducible, targeted gene expression in brain.Mol Pharmacol. 1998; 54: 495-503
- Cre-mediated transgene activation in the developing and adult mouse brain.Genesis. 2001; 31: 118-125
- Inactivation of Hdh in the brain and testis results in progressive neurodegeneration and sterility in mice.Nat Genet. 2000; 26: 300-306
- Retention of NMDA receptor NR2 subunits in the lumen of endoplasmic reticulum in targeted NR1 knockout mice.Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2003; 100: 4855-4860
- Cre-mediated recombination in rhombic lip derivatives.Genesis. 2002; 33: 160-169
- Catechol-O-methyltransferase-deficient mice exhibit sexually dimorphic changes in catecholamine levels and behavior.Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1998; 95: 9991-9996
- Genetic ablation and restoration of the olfactory topographic map.Cell. 2000; 103: 609-620
- The gene encoding proline dehydrogenase modulates sensorimotor gating in mice.Nat Genet. 1999; 21: 434-439
- Tight control of gene expression in mammalian cells by tetracycline-responsive promoters.Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1992; 89: 5547-5551
- Transcriptional activation by tetracyclines in mammalian cells.Science. 1995; 268: 1766-1769
- Serotonin1A receptor acts during development to establish normal anxiety-like behaviour in the adult.Nature. 2002; 416: 396-400
- Deletion of a DNA polymerase beta gene segment in T cells using cell type-specific gene targeting.Science. 1994; 265: 103-106
- Long-term, noninvasive imaging of regulated gene expression in living mice.Genesis. 2001; 29: 116-122
- Targeting of cre to the Foxg1 (BF-1) locus mediates loxP recombination in the telencephalon and other developing head structures.Dev Biol. 2000; 222: 296-306
- Neuron-specific expression of Cre recombinase during the late phase of brain development.Neurosci Res. 2001; 40: 125-132
- Ectopic expression of the bHLH gene Math1 disturbs neural development.Eur J Neurosci. 1999; 11: 2582-2588
- Cortex-restricted disruption of NMDAR1 impairs neuronal patterns in the barrel cortex.Nature. 2000; 406: 726-731
- Emx1-specific expression of foreign genes using “knock-in” approach.Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2000; 270: 978-982
- Induced DNA recombination by Cre recombinase protein transduction.Genesis. 2002; 33: 48-54
- Developmental profile of kainate receptor subunit KA1 revealed by Cre expression in YAC transgenic mice.Brain Res. 2000; 876: 55-61
- Adeno-associated virus effectively mediates conditional gene modification in the brain.Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2002; 99: 2320-2325
- Inducible site-specific recombination in the brain.J Mol Biol. 1999; 285: 175-182
- Purkinje cell-specific and inducible gene recombination system generated from C57BL/6 mouse ES cells.Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2001; 281: 1134-1140
- A highly efficient Escherichia coli-based chromosome engineering system adapted for recombinogenic targeting and subcloning of BAC DNA.Genomics. 2001; 73: 56-65
- Timing the doxycycline yields different patterns of genomic recombination in brain neurons with a new inducible Cre transgene.J Neurosci Res. 2002; 68: 248-253
- Growth inhibition and DNA damage induced by Cre recombinase in mammalian cells.Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2001; 98: 9209-9214
- Forebrain-specific promoter/enhancer D6 derived from the mouse Dach1 gene controls expression in neural stem cells.Neuroscience. 2002; 112: 951-966
- Restricted and regulated overexpression reveals calcineurin as a key component in the transition from short-term to long-term memory.Cell. 1998; 92: 39-49
- Inducible and reversible gene expression with the rtTA system for the study of memory.Neuron. 1998; 21: 257-265
- Disruption of CREB function in brain leads to neurodegeneration.Nat Genet. 2002; 31: 47-54
- Induction of medulloblastomas in p53-null mutant mice by somatic inactivation of Rb in the external granular layer cells of the cerebellum.Genes Dev. 2000; 14: 994-1004
- Control of memory formation through regulated expression of a CaMKII transgene.Science. 1996; 274: 1678-1683
- Changing colors in mice.Genes Dev. 2001; 15: 1461-1467
- Essential role for TrkB receptors in hippocampus-mediated learning.Neuron. 1999; 24: 401-414
- Overexpression of p27Kip1 lengthens the G1 phase in a mouse model that targets inducible gene expression to central nervous system progenitor cells.Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2001; 98: 6435-6440
- Mice with reduced NMDA receptor expression display behaviors related to schizophrenia.Cell. 1999; 98: 427-436
- Cre recombinase.Genesis. 2000; 26: 99-109
- Requirement for hippocampal CA3 NMDA receptors in associative memory recall.Science. 2002; 297: 211-218
- Delivery of the Cre recombinase by a self-deleting lentiviral vector.Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2001; 98: 11450-11455
- Reversible inhibition of CREB/ATF transcription factors in region CA1 of the dorsal hippocampus disrupts hippocampus-dependent spatial memory.Neuron. 2002; 34: 447-462
- Conditional deletion of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in the postnatal brain leads to obesity and hyperactivity.Mol Endocrinol. 2001; 15: 1748-1757
- High-efficiency deleter mice show that FLPe is an alternative to Cre-loxP.Nat Genet. 2000; 25: 139-140
- Efficient FLP recombination in mouse ES cells and oocytes.Genesis. 2001; 31: 6-10
- A method for the generation of YAC transgenic mice by pronuclear microinjection.Nucleic Acids Res. 1993; 21: 4783-4787
- NMDA receptor-dependent synaptic reinforcement as a crucial process for memory consolidation.Science. 2000; 290: 1170-1174
- Codon-improved Cre recombinase (iCre) expression in the mouse.Genesis. 2002; 32: 19-26
- Segmental genomic replacement in embryonic stem cells by double lox targeting.Nucleic Acids Res. 1999; 27: e21
- Targeted expression of tetanus toxin light chain in Drosophila specifically eliminates synaptic transmission and causes behavioral defects.Neuron. 1995; 14: 341-351
- Doxycycline control of prion protein transgene expression modulates prion disease in mice.Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1998; 95: 12580-12585
- Disruption of the glucocorticoid receptor gene in the nervous system results in reduced anxiety.Nat Genet. 1999; 23: 99-103
- The essential role of hippocampal CA1 NMDA receptor-dependent synaptic plasticity in spatial memory.Cell. 1996; 87: 1327-1338
- Cerebellar granule cell-specific and inducible expression of Cre recombinase in the mouse.J Neurosci. 1999; 19: 10318-10323
- Expression pattern of a Krox-20/Cre knock-in allele in the developing hindbrain, bones, and peripheral nervous system.Genesis. 2000; 26: 123-126
- Temporally controlled targeted somatic mutagenesis in the mouse brain.Eur J Neurosci. 2001; 14: 1777-1783
- The role of brain-derived neurotrophic factor receptors in the mature hippocampus.J Neurosci. 2000; 20: 6888-6897
- Reversal of neuropathology and motor dysfunction in a conditional model of Huntington’s disease.Cell. 2000; 101: 57-66
- Cre recombinase-mediated inversion using lox66 and lox71.Nucleic Acids Res. 2002; 30: e90
- Ablation of NF1 function in neurons induces abnormal development of cerebral cortex and reactive gliosis in the brain.Genes Dev. 2001; 15: 859-876
- HGFAP-cre transgenic mice for manipulation of glial and neuronal function in vivo.Genesis. 2001; 31: 85-94
Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
April 21,
2003
Received in revised form:
April 16,
2003
Received:
January 30,
2003
Identification
Copyright
© 2003 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.