Col2CreERT2, a mouse model for a chondrocyte-specific and inducible gene deletion
1 Center for Craniofacial Regeneration, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA
2 Department of Biochemistry, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL 60612, USA
3 Liaoning University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shenyang, Liaoning 110032, China
4 Key Laboratory of Hormones and Development (Ministry of Health), Metabolic Diseases Hospital & Institute of Endocrinology, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300070, China
Abstract
In 2007 and 2008, we published two articles reporting a tamoxifen (TM)-inducible, chondrocyte-specific gene-targeting mouse model in which the expression ofCreERT2is driven by the type II collagen promoter (Col2CreERT2). The fusion protein is specifically expressed and translocated into the nucleus upon TM administration, which in turn triggers gene recombination. Since then, this animal model has become a powerful tool to study the molecular mechanism of skeletal development and degenerative cartilage diseases, including knee joint osteoarthritis (OA), temporomandibular joint (TMJ) OA, and intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration. In this review article, we summarise the application ofCol2CreERT2mice and discuss the potential usage of this animal model in a broad spectrum of cartilage development and molecular pathology studies.
Keywords
- Animals
- cartilage development
- cartilage physiology
- chondrocytes
- gene expression
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