Adcyap1-P2A-iCre Mouse

Adcyap1 (adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide 1; also known as PACAP) encodes the precursor of pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP), a member of the glucagon/secretin superfamily. The precursor is proteolytically processed into PACAP-27, PACAP-38 and PACAP-related peptide (PRP), and acts through PAC1 (Adcyap1r1), VPAC1 and VPAC2 receptors as a neurotransmitter, neuromodulator and hypophysiotropic hormone ^[1]. PACAP is reported to be expressed mainly in neuronal cell bodies in the central nervous system: a high-resolution map of the mouse brain showed Adcyap1-expressing neurons in multiple hypothalamic nuclei (paraventricular nucleus, ventromedial nucleus, mammillary bodies and others), hippocampal CA1–CA3 pyramidal cells and hilar mossy cells, layer 2/3 and layer 5 pyramidal neurons of the cerebral cortex, the amygdala (lateral and basal nuclei), and brainstem regions including the parabrachial nucleus and the nucleus of the solitary tract ^[2].

Adcyap1-P2A-iCre mice were generated by gene editing, in which the stop codon of the endogenous mouse Adcyap1 gene was replaced with the "P2A-iCre" cassette. When Adcyap1-P2A-iCre mice are crossed with mice carrying loxP sites, the offspring are expected to undergo iCre recombinase-mediated recombination between loxP sites in Adcyap1-positive cells. The model can be used for studies on Adcyap1-positive neuropeptidergic neurons.