Transgenic mice have emerged as a central tool in the study of lung myeloid cells during homeostasis and disease. The use of Cre/Lox site-specific recombination allows for conditional deletion of a gene of interest in a spatially controlled manner. The basic Cre/Lox system can be further refined to include an inducible trigger, enabling conditional deletion of a gene of interest in a spatially and temporally controlled manner. Here we provide an overview of commercially available conditional and inducible conditional mouse strains that target lung myeloid cells and describe the appropriate breeding schemes and controls for transgenic animal systems that can be used to modulate myeloid cell function.
Keywords: Breeding; Conditional; Cre; CreER; Inducible; ROSA26; Transgenic mice; rtTA.