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Tractable Cre-lox system for stochastic alteration of genes in mice

Nature Methods volume 5, pages 227–229 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

We developed a cell division–activated Cre-lox system for stochastic recombination of loxP-flanked loci in mice. Cre activation by frameshift reversion is modulated by DNA mismatch-repair status and occurs in individual cells surrounded by normal tissue, mimicking spontaneous cancer-causing mutations. This system should be particularly useful for delineating pathways of neoplasia, and determining the developmental and aging consequences of specific gene alterations.

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Figure 1: Generation and characterization of Pms2cre mice.
Figure 2: Activation of K-ras results in larger regions of β-galactosidase staining.

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Acknowledgements

We thank M. Wong, N. Erdeniz, J. Johnson, O. Reilly and K. MacDonald for critically reading the manuscript. This work was supported by US National Institutes of Health grants R37 GM32741 to R.M.L. and 2 RO1 CA 80077 to D.S.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Molecular and Medical Genetics, L103, Oregon Health & Science University, 3181 Sam Jackson Park Road, Portland, 97239, Oregon, USA

    Ashleigh J Miller, Sandra D Dudley & R Michael Liskay

  2. Department of Pathology, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, 1200 N. State Street, Unit I, Room 2428, Los Angeles, 90033, California, USA

    Jen-Lan Tsao & Darryl Shibata

Authors
  1. Ashleigh J Miller
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  2. Sandra D Dudley
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  3. Jen-Lan Tsao
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  5. R Michael Liskay
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Correspondence to R Michael Liskay.

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Miller, A., Dudley, S., Tsao, JL. et al. Tractable Cre-lox system for stochastic alteration of genes in mice. Nat Methods 5, 227–229 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmeth.1183

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