[HTML][HTML] Insertion of Cre into the Pax3 locus creates a new allele of Splotch and identifies unexpected Pax3 derivatives

KA Engleka, AD Gitler, M Zhang, DD Zhou, FA High… - Developmental …, 2005 - Elsevier
KA Engleka, AD Gitler, M Zhang, DD Zhou, FA High, JA Epstein
Developmental biology, 2005Elsevier
Pax3 is a transcription factor expressed in the dorsal neural tube and somite of the
developing embryo. It plays critical roles in pre-migratory neural crest cells and in myogenic
precursors of skeletal muscle. Pax3-deficient Splotch embryos display neural tube and
neural crest defects and lack hypaxial muscles. We have created a new allele of Splotch by
replacing the first coding exon with a gene encoding Cre recombinase. This functions as a
null allele and no Pax3 protein is detected in homozygous embryos. Heterozygous …
Pax3 is a transcription factor expressed in the dorsal neural tube and somite of the developing embryo. It plays critical roles in pre-migratory neural crest cells and in myogenic precursors of skeletal muscle. Pax3-deficient Splotch embryos display neural tube and neural crest defects and lack hypaxial muscles. We have created a new allele of Splotch by replacing the first coding exon with a gene encoding Cre recombinase. This functions as a null allele and no Pax3 protein is detected in homozygous embryos. Heterozygous Pax3Cre/+ mice display a white belly spot, as do Splotch heterozygotes. Homozygous Pax3Cre/Cre embryos are embryonic lethal. We have used Pax3Cre/+ mice to fate-map Pax3 derivatives in the developing mouse. As expected, neural crest and some somitic derivatives are identified. However, we also detect previously unappreciated derivatives of Pax3-expressing precursors in the colonic epithelium of the hindgut and within the urogenital system.
Elsevier