Technology ID
TAB-1864

Mice with a Conditional LoxP-Flanked Glucosylceramide Synthase Allele Controlling Glycosphingolipid Synthesis

E-Numbers
E-320-2007-0
Lead Inventor
Proia, Richard (NIDDK)
Applications
Research Materials
Development Status
Ready to Use
Lead IC
NIDDK
ICs
NIDDK
Glycosphingolipids are organizational building blocks of plasma membranes that participate in key cellular functions, such as signaling and cell-to-cell interactions. Glucosylceramide synthase - encoded by the Ugcg gene - controls the first committed step in the major pathway of glycosphingolipid synthesis. Global disruption of the Ugcg gene in mice is lethal during gastrulation. The inventors have established a Ugcg allele flanked by loxP sites (floxed). When cre recombinase was expressed in the nervous system under control of the nestin promoter, the floxed gene underwent recombination, resulting in a substantial reduction of Ugcg expression and of glycosphingolipid ganglio-series levels. The mice deficient in Ugcg expression in the nervous system show a striking loss of Purkinje cells and abnormal neurologic sphingo-lipid behavior.

The Research Tools available are mice with a floxed Ugcg allele that can be deleted in a conditional manner. These mice carrying floxed Ugcg alleles will be useful for delineating the functional roles of glycosphingolipid synthesis in the nervous system and in other physiologic systems.

Commercial Applications
  • Study of the functional roles of glycosphingolipid synthesis in the nervous system and other physiologic systems.
  • The floxed Ugcg allele will facilitate analysis of the function of glycosphingolipids in development, physiology, and in diseases such as diabetes and cancer.
Licensing Contact:
Shastri, Mythreyi
shastrim@mail.nih.gov