Apc KO Mouse

The adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) gene is a tumor suppressor gene, the protein it encodes plays a key regulatory role in the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway ^[1]. The APC protein can antagonize the Wnt signaling pathway, assisting in regulating cell migration, adhesion, transcriptional activation, and apoptosis. More than 10% of human tumors have mutations in the APC gene, and most colorectal cancers have mutations in the APC gene ^[2]. Defects in the APC gene lead to the occurrence of familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP), characterized by hundreds to thousands of adenomatous polyps in the rectum. This is an autosomal dominant precancerous disease, which usually develops into malignant tumors ^[1-2]. Disease-related mutations in the APC gene are highly prevalent in a small region known as the mutation cluster region (MCR), which usually leads to the production of truncated proteins ^[3-4]. In mice, either Apc gene deletion or multiple intestinal neoplasia (Min) mutations that result in the production of truncated APC proteins cause phenotypes similar to human familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) and/or colorectal tumors ^[5-9].

The Apc KO mouse is a research model constructed by using gene editing technology to knock out the sequence in the mouse Apc gene that contains the mutation cluster region (MCR), and this strain is homozygous lethal. Heterozygous Apc KO mice can spontaneously develop intestinal adenomas and exhibit significant colorectal cancer disease phenotypes in various aspects such as survival, growth, food intake, and intestinal lesions. Therefore, Apc KO mice can be used for familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) and colorectal cancer and other tumors or tumor-related diseases, as well as the study of the regulatory mechanism of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway.