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Nonspecific expression in limited excitatory cell populations in interneuron-targeting cre-driver lines can have large functional effects

Transgenic Cre-recombinase expressing mouse lines are widely used to express fluorescent proteins and opto-/chemogenetic actuators, making them a cornerstone of modern neuroscience. The investigation of interneurons in particular has benefitted from the ability to genetically target specific cell ty...

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Main Authors: Müller-Komorowska, Daniel (Author) , Opitz, Thoralf (Author) , Elzoheiry, Shehabeldin (Author) , Schweizer, Michaela (Author) , Ambrad Giovannetti, Eleonora (Author) , Beck, Heinz (Author)
Format: Article (Journal)
Language:English
Published: 27 April 2020
In: Frontiers in neural circuits
Year: 2020, Volume: 14
ISSN:1662-5110
DOI:10.3389/fncir.2020.00016
Online Access:Verlag, lizenzpflichtig, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.3389/fncir.2020.00016
Verlag, lizenzpflichtig, Volltext: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fncir.2020.00016/full
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Author Notes:Daniel Müller-Komorowska, Thoralf Opitz, Shehabeldin Elzoheiry, Michaela Schweizer, Eleonora Ambrad Giovannetti, Heinz Beck
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Summary:Transgenic Cre-recombinase expressing mouse lines are widely used to express fluorescent proteins and opto-/chemogenetic actuators, making them a cornerstone of modern neuroscience. The investigation of interneurons in particular has benefitted from the ability to genetically target specific cell types. However, the specificity of some Cre driver lines has been called into question. Here, we show that nonspecific expression in a subset of hippocampal neurons can have substantial nonspecific functional effects in a somatostatin-Cre (SST-Cre) mouse line. Nonspecific targeting of CA3 pyramidal cells caused large optogenetically evoked excitatory currents in remote brain regions. Similar, but less severe patterns of nonspecific expression were observed in a widely used SST-IRES-Cre line, when crossed with a reporter mouse line. Viral transduction on the other hand yielded more specific expression but still resulted in nonspecific expression in a minority of pyramidal layer cells. These results suggest that a careful analysis of specificity is mandatory prior to use of Cre driver lines for opto- or chemogenetic manipulation approaches.
Item Description:Gesehen am 10.06.2020
Physical Description:Online Resource
ISSN:1662-5110
DOI:10.3389/fncir.2020.00016

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