To determine the specificity and efficiency of the tamoxifen (TM)-induced Cre-recombination in articular chondrocytes of adult Col2a1-CreER(T2) transgenic mice.
Col2a1-CreER(T2) transgenic mice were bred with Rosa26 reporter mice. Two-week-old Col2a1-CreER(T2);R26R mice were administered TM for 5 days and were sacrificed 1 and 6 months after TM induction. X-Gal staining was performed.
Efficient Cre-recombination is achieved in adult articular chondrocytes 1 and 6 months after TM induction.
Our findings demonstrate that the Col2a1-CreER(T2) transgenic mouse model is a valuable tool to target genes specifically expressed in articular chondrocytes in a temporally controlled manner in adult mice.