Whole-Mount X-Gal Staining of Mouse Tissues

Although the development of improved mouse models, including conditional deletions, marks an exciting time in mouse genetics, it is important to characterize and validate these models. Cre reporter strains allow researchers to assess the recombinase expression profile and function in individual Cre...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Gierut, J. J., Haigis, K. M., Jacks, Tyler E.
Other Authors: Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT
Format: Article
Published: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press 2018
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/116574
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5785-8911
Description
Summary:Although the development of improved mouse models, including conditional deletions, marks an exciting time in mouse genetics, it is important to characterize and validate these models. Cre reporter strains allow researchers to assess the recombinase expression profile and function in individual Cre mouse lines. These strains are engineered to express a reporter gene (usually LacZ) following the removal of a floxed STOP cassette, thus marking cell lineages that can be targeted with a given Cre line. This protocol provides a detailed method for the histochemical detection of β-galactosidase activity in Cre mouse strains.