Cre–lox‐Inducible Gene Targeting

Brian Sauer, Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Kansas City, Missouri, USA

Published online: January 2006

DOI: 10.1038/npg.els.0005979

Cre is a site-specific DNA recombinase that is useful for either targeted excision or activation of a desired gene in the genome in a temporally and spatially controlled manner. Cre-based recombination strategies also permit the design of precise chromosome translocations, deletions and duplications, which facilitate the genetic manipulation of the eukaryotic genome.

Keywords: transgenic mice; chromosome engineering; DNA recombinase; conditional mutation; embryonic stem cells

Figure 1. loxP recombination site. The horizontal arrows indicate the two 13-bp inverted repeats to which Cre binds.
Figure 2. Conditional gene knockout. Black arrowheads represent the loxP sites, gray boxes represent the several exons of the target gene to be ablated and the open box represents the selectable marker neo. Also shown is a translational start in exon II (ATG) and a polyadenylylation site, (A)n, in exon III. For simplicity, excision of the neo gene is not shown: an option is removal of neo in ES cells after transient transfection with a cre plasmid by recombination at the two flanking loxP sites.
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 References
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    Marth JD (1996) Recent advances in gene mutagenesis by site-directed recombination. Journal of Clinical Investigation 97: 1999–2002.
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    Sauer B and Henderson N (1988) Site-specific DNA recombination in mammalian cells by the Cre recombinase of bacteriophage P1. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 85: 5166–5170.
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Related Sub-Topics:

Nucleic Acid Structure | Replication and Recombination | Transcription | Gene and Genome Structure and Organisation | Techniques and Tools in Clinical Genetics | Transcriptional Regulation | DNA Structure and Function | Techniques and Tools in Molecular Biology
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Article Title: Cre–lox‐Inducible Gene Targeting
 
How to Cite close
Sauer, Brian(Jan 2006) Cre–lox‐Inducible Gene Targeting. In: eLS. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester. http://www.els.net [doi: 10.1038/npg.els.0005979]