Rank7
Idea#102
Do we need a set of validated tools for mouse models of kidney disease (and development), available to all, for example Cre/CreER drivers for the major relevant differentiated cell types in adult kidney (endothelial, nephron epithelia by segment, fibroblast, macrophage etc...)?
Tags: aki ckd development diabetic nephropathy pkd
Such Cre drivers are critical to almost every type of developmental analysis, however they also need to be well-characterized BEFORE they are distributed to investigators in the field. Knowing that the tools that are generated have been tested and fully validated for temporal, spatial, and cell-type specific expression is essential. If this is not done BAC transgenics that harbor internal deletions or knock-in drivers that have removed essential gene regulatory elements could be driving expression in patterns that does not accurately reflect the endogenous gene.
In addition to Cre drivers, floxed alleles that result in haploinsufficiency or amino acid changes are needed concurrently so that temporal effects on disruptions in development or post-natal maturation can be examined. Simply being able to fate map a particular cell lineage without being able to investigate the effects of discrete mutations won't get us very far.
Couldn't agree more that Cre drivers need thorough characterization ahead of time. I would add that in regard to floxed alleles, efforts might be coordinated with the Int'l Knockout Mouse Consortium (http://www.knockoutmouse.org/) with 15,500 alleles targeted so far and the majority as conditionals.
