43 research outputs found
Critical Roles of Pten in B Cell Homeostasis and Immunoglobulin Class Switch Recombination
Conditional knockout of focal adhesion kinase in endothelial cells reveals its role in angiogenesis and vascular development in late embryogenesis
Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) is a critical mediator of signal transduction by integrins and growth factor receptors in a variety of cells including endothelial cells (ECs). Here, we describe EC-specific knockout of FAK using a Cre-loxP approach. In contrast to the total FAK knockout, deletion of FAK specifically in ECs did not affect early embryonic development including normal vasculogenesis. However, in late embryogenesis, FAK deletion in the ECs led to defective angiogenesis in the embryos, yolk sac, and placenta, impaired vasculature and associated hemorrhage, edema, and developmental delay, and late embryonic lethal phenotype. Histologically, ECs and blood vessels in the mutant embryos present a disorganized, detached, and apoptotic appearance. Consistent with these phenotypes, deletion of FAK in ECs isolated from the floxed FAK mice led to reduced tubulogenesis, cell survival, proliferation, and migration in vitro. Together, these results strongly suggest a role of FAK in angiogenesis and vascular development due to its essential function in the regulation of multiple EC activities
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A conditional null allele of the major histocompatibility IA-beta chain gene
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Induced DNA recombination by Cre recombinase protein transduction
Cre is a DNA recombinase that recognizes 34 base-pair loxP sites of recombination. We have developed a cell-permeable Cre recombinase, TATCre, that is capable of mediating deletion of loxP-flanked targets by simply adding TATCre to cell cultures. Thus, TATCre allows efficient induced DNA recombination without the use of a Cre recombinase transgene or any other genetic material and should prove useful for the genetic manipulation of a wide variety of cell types that have been engineered to possess loxP sites