Innovation
UCLA researchers have developed transgenic mice in which two exons of the Fox-2 (Rbfox2, RBM9) gene are flanked by loxP sites to permit deletion of the gene when the mice are crossed to mice expressing Cre recombinase. Fox-2 is an RNA-binding protein that regulates the alternative splicing of multiple transcripts in neurons and embryonic stem cells (ESCs). Fox-2 has been implicated in neurological disease, including spinocerebellar ataxia type I (SCAI), and has been shown to regulate the alternative splicing of ~7% of all genes in human ESCs. These mice are valuable research tools that can be used to analyze the development and differentiation of ESCs and brain in vivo.
Applications
This mouse strain allows researchers to delete Fox-2 in the tissue or cell type of interest.