Zbtb46-IRES-DreERT2 Mouse

Zbtb46 (zinc finger and BTB domain-containing 46) encodes a BTB-ZF family transcription factor, also known as zDC or BTBD4, and is an important molecular marker for classical dendritic cells (cDCs) and their committed progenitors. Zbtb46 is expressed in major cDC subsets such as cDC1 and cDC2, and can be used to distinguish cDCs from other immune cells including plasmacytoid dendritic cells, monocytes, and macrophages ^[1-2]. During cDC development, Zbtb46 expression begins at the pre-cDC stage, and its positive cells exhibit strong cDC commitment and differentiation characteristics. Meanwhile, Zbtb46 is involved in maintaining the homeostasis of mature cDCs and restricting aberrant expression of certain myeloid genes ^[2]. In addition to the immune system, Zbtb46 is also expressed in some vascular endothelial cells and participates in regulating endothelial cell proliferation and quiescence ^[3].

The Zbtb46-IRES-DreERT2 mouse was generated using gene editing technology by inserting an "IRES-DreERT2" cassette downstream of the endogenous Zbtb46 gene stop codon. In the absence of tamoxifen treatment, DreERT2 recombinase mainly resides in the cytoplasm; upon tamoxifen induction, DreERT2 recombinase can enter the nucleus and exert its recombinase activity. When Zbtb46-IRES-DreERT2 mice are crossed with mice carrying rox sites, tamoxifen induction in the offspring is expected to achieve Dre recombinase-mediated sequence recombination between rox sites in Zbtb46-positive cells.