This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 27/6/729    most recent Author Manuscript (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Rasoulpour, R. J. Articles by Boekelheide, K. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Rasoulpour, R. J. Articles by Boekelheide, K.

The Sycp1-Cre Transgenic Mouse and Male Germ Cell Inhibition of NF-B

From the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island.

Correspondence to: Dr Kim Boekelheide, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, 70 Ship Street, Box G-E504, Brown University, Providence, RI 02903 (e-mail: kim_boekelheide{at}brown.edu).

Successful spermatogenesis requires autocrine, paracrine, and endocrine signaling throughout the testes. The seminiferous tubules contain somatic Sertoli cells in tight association with numerous germ cell populations. To address the in vivo biologic roles of genes during spermatogenesis, spatial and temporal restriction of gene inhibition is a useful approach. To this end, Cre-LoxP technology can produce cell-specific knockdowns of genes, allowing dissection of the underlying processes that manifest as functional deficits in whole animals. Here we report the use of the synaptonemal complex protein 1-Cre (Sycp1-Cre) to create germ cell–specific nuclear factor B knockdown mice through floxed IB kinaseß. We observed a LoxP gene recombination rate of approximately 43% using Sycp1-Cre, as determined by offspring genotype. In addition, we confirm that, with multiple generations, the LoxP sites fail to recombine due to epigenetic modification. This detailed examination of the meiotic Sycp1-Cre recombinase activity highlights the obstacles to germ cell–specific gene inhibition through Cre/LoxP technology in the testis. Taken together, these data demonstrate a need for early spermatogonial expression of Cre recombinase, as an alternative to meiotic Cre expression, for the creation of germ cell–specific knockout mice.

     Key words: Testis, Cre/LoxP, spermatogenesis

This article has been cited by other articles:

				R. J. Rasoulpour and K. Boekelheide NF-kappaB Activation Elicited by Ionizing Radiation Is Proapoptotic in Testis Biol Reprod, February 1, 2007; 76(2): 279 - 285. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]