{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,21]],"date-time":"2026-01-21T20:20:15Z","timestamp":1769026815970,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,7,26]],"date-time":"2021-07-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1627257600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"the National Key Research and Developmental Program of China","award":["2018YFC1003602"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2018YFC1003602"]}]},{"name":"Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Cell and Developmental Biology","award":["SDKLACDB-2019005"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["SDKLACDB-2019005"]}]},{"name":"Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Cell and Developmental Biology","award":["SDKLACDB-2019018"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["SDKLACDB-2019018"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Spermatozoa released from testes undergo a maturation process and acquire the capacity to fertilize ova through epididymal transit. The epididymis is divided into four regions, each with unique morphology, gene profile, luminal microenvironment and distinct function. To study the functions of relevant genes in the epididymal initial segment (IS), a novel IS-specific mouse model, Lcn9-Cre knock-in (KI) mouse line was generated via CRISPR\/Cas9 technology. The TAG stop codon was replaced by a 2A-NLS-Cre cassette, resulting in the co-expression of Lcn9 and Cre recombinase. IS-specific Cre expression was first observed from postnatal day 17. Using the Rosa26<jats:sup>tdTomato<\/jats:sup>reporter mice, the Cre-mediated DNA recombination was detected exclusively in principal cells. The epididymal IS-specific Cre activity<jats:italic>in vivo<\/jats:italic>was further confirmed using Lcn9-Cre mice crossed with a mouse strain carrying<jats:italic>Tsc1<\/jats:italic>floxed alleles (<jats:italic>Tsc1<\/jats:italic><jats:sup>flox\/+<\/jats:sup>). Cre expression did not affect either normal development or male fecundity. Different from any epididymis-specific Cre mice reported previously, the novel Lcn9-Cre mouse line can be used to introduce entire IS-specific conditional gene editing for gene functional study.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0254802","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,7,26]],"date-time":"2021-07-26T17:24:33Z","timestamp":1627320273000},"page":"e0254802","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":11,"title":["A novel mouse line with epididymal initial segment-specific expression of Cre recombinase driven by the endogenous Lcn9 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