A novel Axin2 knock-in mouse model for visualization and lineage tracing of WNT/CTNNB1 responsive cells.

Wnt signal transduction controls tissue morphogenesis, maintenance and regeneration in all multicellular animals. In mammals, the WNT/CTNNB1 (Wnt/ß-catenin) pathway controls cell proliferation and cell fate decisions before and after birth. It plays a critical role at multiple stages of embryonic development, but also governs stem cell maintenance and homeostasis in adult tissues. However, it remains challenging to monitor endogenous WNT/CTNNB1 signaling dynamics in vivo. Here, we report the generation and characterization of a new knock-in mouse strain that doubles as a fluorescent reporter and lineage tracing driver for WNT/CTNNB1 responsive cells. We introduced a multi-cistronic targeting cassette at the 3' end of the universal WNT/CTNNB1 target gene Axin2. The resulting knock-in allele expresses a bright fluorescent reporter (3xNLS-SGFP2) and a doxycycline-inducible driver for lineage tracing (rtTA3). We show that the Axin2P2A-rtTA3-T2A-3xNLS-SGFP2 strain labels WNT/CTNNB1 responsive cells at multiple anatomical sites during different stages of embryonic and postnatal development. It faithfully reports the subtle and dynamic changes in physiological WNT/CTNNB1 signaling activity that occur in vivo. We expect this mouse strain to be a useful resource for biologists who want to track and trace the location and developmental fate of WNT/CTNNB1 responsive stem cells in different contexts.

Identification of reliable reference genes for qRT-PCR studies of the developing mouse mammary gland.

Cell growth and differentiation are often driven by subtle changes in gene expression. Many challenges still exist in detecting these changes, particularly in the context of a complex, developing tissue. Quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) allows relatively high-throughput evaluation of multiple genes and developmental time points. Proper quantification of gene expression levels by qRT-PCR requires normalization to one or more reference genes. Traditionally, these genes have been selected based on their presumed "housekeeping" function, with the implicit assumption that they are stably expressed over the entire experimental set. However, this is rarely tested empirically. Here we describe the identification of novel reference genes for the mouse mammary gland based on their stable expression in published microarray datasets. We compared eight novel candidate reference genes (Arpc3, Clock, Ctbp1, Phf7, Prdx1, Sugp2, Taf11 and Usp7) to eight traditional ones (18S, Actb, Gapdh, Hmbs, Hprt, Rpl13a, Sdha and Tbp) and analysed all genes for stable expression in the mouse mammary gland from pre-puberty to adulthood using four different algorithms (GeNorm, DeltaCt, BestKeeper and NormFinder). Prdx1, Phf7 and Ctbp1 were validated as novel and reliable, tissue-specific reference genes that outperform traditional reference genes in qRT-PCR studies of postnatal mammary gland development.