Cxcr3-EGFP-T2A-CreERT2 Mouse

Cxcr3 (C-X-C motif chemokine receptor 3; also known as Cd183) encodes CXCR3, a seven-transmembrane G protein-coupled receptor whose ligands are the interferon-inducible chemokines CXCL9, CXCL10 and CXCL11, and which contributes to the migration of effector T cells to sites of inflammation ^[1]. CXCR3 is rapidly induced on T cells after activation and remains highly expressed on Th1 CD4⁺ T cells and effector CD8⁺ T cells ^[1]; natural killer (NK) cells also express CXCR3 and depend on it for recruitment to inflamed tissues ^[2].

Cxcr3-EGFP-T2A-CreERT2 mice were generated by gene editing, in which the "Kozak-EGFP-T2A-CreERT2-P2A" cassette was inserted upstream of the start codon of the endogenous mouse Cxcr3 gene. In the absence of tamoxifen treatment, the CreERT2 recombinase is mainly localized in the cytoplasm; after tamoxifen treatment, the CreERT2 recombinase enters the nucleus and exerts its recombination function. When Cxcr3-EGFP-T2A-CreERT2 mice are crossed with mice carrying loxP sites, the offspring are expected to undergo Cre recombinase-mediated recombination between loxP sites in Cxcr3-positive cells after tamoxifen induction.