The accuracy of reporter systems is often crucial to determine the level of insights gained through the generation of a transgenic model. Therefore, another corner stone of research at CTM is the development of innovative reporter systems, which can increase sensitivity, efficiency and/or spatio-temporal resolution.

In the CoDriver system, processing of loxP-flanked alleles depends on the sequential activity of both Dre and Cre. This system is thus ideal to investigate inter cell type relationships in sequential lineage tracing studies (Hermann et al. 2014). Recently, this system has been employed to unravel a previously unknown spinal circuit which can tune cold sensitivity (Albisetti et al. 2023)

The Co-InCre or “Split-Cre” system depends on the trans-splicing of inteins to join the split N- and C-terminal Cre parts expressed under different chosen promoters. Thereby, active Cre will only be present if both promoters are active, allowing to perform efficient multi-conditional transgenesis (Wang et al. 2012; Hermann 2014).

These and similar reporter systems have found numerous applications in developmental, cancer and other fields of biology. In addition to supporting researchers in adapting such reporter systems for their research, the CTM aims at improving existing and developing novel reporter systems. Currently, we are working on an improved traffic light reporter (Certo et al. 2011), that facilitates assessment of integration efficiencies during CRISPR-Cas mediated transgenesis.

Hermann M, Stillhard P, Wildner H, Seruggia D, Kapp V, Sánchez-Iranzo H, Mercader N, Montoliu L, Zeilhofer HU, Pelczar P. Binary recombinase systems for high-resolution conditional mutagenesis.; Nucleic Acids Res. 2014 Apr;42(6):3894-907. 

Albisetti GW, Ganley RP, Pietrafesa F, Werynska K, Magalhaes de Sousa M, Sipione R, Scheurer L, Bösl MR, Pelczar P, Wildner H, Zeilhofer HU.; Inhibitory Kcnip2 neurons of the spinal dorsal horn control behavioral sensitivity to environmental cold; Neuron. 2023 Jan 4;111(1):92-105.e5;

Wang, P., et al. Intersectional Cre driver lines generated using split-intein mediated split-Cre reconstitution. Sci Rep, 2012, 2: 497.

Certo, M.T., et al., Tracking genome engineering outcome at individual DNA breakpoints. Nat Methods, 2011. 8(8): p. 671-6.