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Advantages and Limitations of Cre Mouse Lines Used in Skeletal Research

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Skeletal Development and Repair

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 2230))

Abstract

The Cre-LoxP technology permits gene ablation in specific cell lineages, at chosen differentiation stages of this lineage and in an inducible manner. It has allowed tremendous advances in our understanding of skeleton biology and related pathophysiological mechanisms, through the generation of loss/gain of function or cell tracing experiments based on the creation of an expanding toolbox of transgenic mice expressing the Cre recombinase in skeletal stem cells, chondrocytes, osteoblasts, or osteoclasts. In this chapter, we provide an overview of the different Cre-LoxP systems and Cre mouse lines used in the bone field, we discuss their advantages, limitations, and we outline best practices to interpret results obtained from the use of Cre mice.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by funding from the National Institute of Health (RO1AG055394, R21AR072483) and the Department of Defense (GRANT12693412).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA

    Florent Elefteriou

  2. Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA

    Florent Elefteriou & Greig Couasnay

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  1. Florent Elefteriou
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  2. Greig Couasnay
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Correspondence to Florent Elefteriou .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Cell Biology, Duke Cellular, Developmental, and Genome Laboratories, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, USA

    Matthew J. Hilton

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Elefteriou, F., Couasnay, G. (2021). Advantages and Limitations of Cre Mouse Lines Used in Skeletal Research. In: Hilton, M.J. (eds) Skeletal Development and Repair. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2230. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-1028-2_3

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