Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI 48201, USA.
Neuroscience. 2010 Jan 13;165(1):233-43. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2009.10.021. Epub 2009 Oct 23.
The mammalian retina consists of five major classes of neuronal cells, as well as glial cells, and it contains more than 50 cell types. The ability to manipulate gene expression in specific cell type(s) in the retina is important for understanding the molecular mechanisms of retinal function and diseases. The Cre/LoxP recombination system has become a powerful tool, allowing gene deletion, over-expression, and ectopic expression in vivo in a cell- and tissue-specific fashion. The key to this tool is the availability of Cre mouse lines with cell- or tissue-type specific expression of Cre recombinase. To date, a large number of Cre-transgenic mouse lines have been generated to target Cre recombinase expression to specific neuronal and glial cell populations in the central nervous system; however, information about the expression patterns of Cre recombinase lines in the retina is largely lacking. In this study, we examined and characterized the expression patterns of Cre recombinase in the retinas of 15 Cre-transgenic mouse lines. Significant Cre-induced recombination or expression of Cre recombinase was observed in the majority of these lines. In particular, we found several Cre lines in which the Cre-induced recombination was found to target exclusively or predominantly a single type or class of retinal cells, including bistratified retinal ganglion cells, starburst amacrine cells, rod bipolar cells, and Müller glial cells. In other lines, the Cre-induced recombination was found in several retinal cell types. These Cre lines provide a valuable resource for retinal research.
哺乳动物的视网膜由五类主要的神经元细胞以及神经胶质细胞组成，其中包含超过 50 种细胞类型。在视网膜中特定细胞类型中操纵基因表达的能力对于理解视网膜功能和疾病的分子机制非常重要。Cre/LoxP 重组系统已成为一种强大的工具，可以在体内以细胞和组织特异性的方式实现基因缺失、过表达和异位表达。该工具的关键在于能够获得具有 Cre 重组酶细胞或组织特异性表达的 Cre 小鼠品系。迄今为止，已经生成了大量的 Cre 转基因小鼠品系，以将 Cre 重组酶靶向表达到中枢神经系统中的特定神经元和神经胶质细胞群体中；然而，关于 Cre 重组酶在视网膜中的表达模式的信息在很大程度上仍然缺乏。在这项研究中，我们检查和描述了 15 种 Cre 转基因小鼠品系中 Cre 重组酶在视网膜中的表达模式。在大多数这些品系中，观察到 Cre 诱导的重组或 Cre 重组酶的显著表达。特别是，我们发现了几条 Cre 线，其中 Cre 诱导的重组仅靶向或主要靶向单一类型或一类视网膜细胞，包括双极型视网膜神经节细胞、星爆型无长突细胞、视杆双极细胞和 Muller 胶质细胞。在其他的线中，发现 Cre 诱导的重组发生在几种视网膜细胞类型中。这些 Cre 线为视网膜研究提供了有价值的资源。
