Catalog Number: I001198
Strain Name: C57BL/6JCya-Prdm1em1(P2A-iCre)/Cya
Genetic Background: C57BL/6JCya
Reproduction: Heterozygote x WT
Strain Description
The PR/SET domain 1 (PRDM1 or BLIMP1) gene encodes a transcriptional repressor. It inhibits the expression of interferon-β (IFN-β) genes and plays a crucial role during mouse germ cell formation. Additionally, by suppressing the gene expression program in mature B cells, PRDM1 drives B cells to differentiate into antibody-secreting plasma cells. PRDM1 is widely expressed during development, including in migrating germ cells. Research has shown that mice with defective Prdm1 genes exhibit abnormal primordial germ cell (PGC)-like cells during early embryonic development, which fail to proliferate or migrate normally. Prdm1-Cre mice are useful for tissue-specific studies targeting PGCs [1]
The Prdm1-iCre (Blimp1-iCre) mouse is generated by integrating the P2A-iCre expression cassette into the stop codon of the mouse Prdm1 gene. Under the control of mouse Prdm1 gene regulatory elements, this strain expresses iCre recombinase (codon-optimized Cre recombinase). This strategy does not affect the endogenous expression of the Prdm1 gene. Using peptide 2A (P2A) avoids decreasing protein activity and downstream gene expression levels during multigene expression. When Prdm1-iCre (Blimp1-iCre) mice are crossed with mice containing loxP sites, Cre-mediated sequence recombination occurs in the offspring’s primordial germ cells.
Strain Strategy
The TAA stop codon of the mouse Prdm1 gene was replaced with the P2A-iCre cassette to mimic the endogenous Prdm1 gene expression pattern.
Announcement
The Cre recombinase gene expression cassette is integrated into chromosome 10 in this strain. It is recommended that breeding with Flox mice targeted on the same chromosome is avoided.
Reference
[1] Ohinata Y, Payer B, O'Carroll D, Ancelin K, Ono Y, Sano M, Barton SC, Obukhanych T, Nussenzweig M, Tarakhovsky A, Saitou M, Surani MA. Blimp1 is a critical determinant of the germ cell lineage in mice. Nature. 2005 Jul 14;436(7048):207-13.