What does CRE do in CRE lox?

Cre-Lox recombination is a site-specific recombinase technology, used to carry out deletions, insertions, translocations and inversions at specific sites in the DNA of cells. It allows the DNA modification to be targeted to a specific cell type or be triggered by a specific external stimulus.

Does CRE LOX use Crispr?

Gene knockout technologies have contributed fundamentally to our understanding of the cellular functions of various genes. Two prevalent systems used for the efficient elimination of the expression of specific genes are the Cre-LoxP system and the CRISPR-Cas9 system.

How was Cre lox discovered?

Sternberg discovered the recombinase, Cre, and its specific locus of crossover, lox, while studying the maintenance of bacteriophage P1 as a stable plasmid. Recombinations mediated by Cre assist in cyclization of the DNA of infecting phage and in resolution of prophage multimers created by generalized recombination.

What are loxP sites?

LoxP sites are directional 34 bp sequences made up of two 13 bp recognition sites separated by an 8 bp spacer region. The sequences don’t occur naturally in any known genomes other than the P1 bacteriophage, and are long enough that they are unlikely to occur by chance.

Is it possible to have naturally occurring loxP sites that could be Floxed by Cre?

There are also naturally occurring “cryptic” loxP sites interspersed throughout the mouse genome. Cre can recognize cryptic loxP sites, albeit with much lower efficiency. When this happens, Cre can cause DNA damage. This was first shown in mouse embryonic fibroblasts (Loonstra A, et al.

Who discovered Cre lox system?

Nat L. Sternberg
The origins of this tool date to more than 30 years ago when Nat L. Sternberg discovered the recombinase, Cre, and its specific locus of crossover, lox, while studying the maintenance of bacteriophage P1 as a stable plasmid.

Why is Cre recombinase so useful?

The Cre/loxP site-specific recombination system has emerged as an important tool for the generation of conditional somatic mouse mutants. The spatial regulation of recombination can be achieved by using cell type-specific promoters that drive expression of Cre in the cell population or tissue of interest.

What can the Cre Lox system be used for?

And, it can be used to turn transgene expression on or off, track individual cells or cell lineages (as in the Brainbow or Confetti mice), generate inversions or translocations, and report gene expression. More novel and sophisticated uses for the Cre/ lox system are being developed all the time.

Where does the Cre-Lox recombination system come from?

The versatile and widely utilized Cre–Lox recombination system was derived from bacteriophage P1. The Cre recombinase is able to specifically cut out DNA sequences that are flanked by two lox P sites. Interestingly, this system can also be tailored to amplify tissue/cancer-specific promoters.

Can a transgene be turned off with Cre Lox?

Notice that only one generation of breeding is required (Hooray!). The Cre/ lox system can be used to turn off a transgene. Such a transgene is designed with loxP sites flanking all or part of it. As an example, see 008917.

Are there different types of CRE and loxP strains?

There are four main categories of Cre and LoxP strains of mice: (1) Cre-expressing strains, which contain a transgene that expresses Cre under the control of a widespread (general) or tissue-specific (conditional) promoter.