Tlx (nr2e1)-dependent gene expression in adult neural stem cells

Tlx (nr2e1) is an orphan nuclear receptor that is highly expressed in proliferating neural stem cells (NSCs) in the adult mouse forebrain. The goal was to identify Tlx-regulated genes in this specific cell population. Two populations of Tlx-positive neural stem cells were isolated from 2-month-old male mice based on a LacZ marker that was knocked into the Tlx locus. The first population, Tlx(f/Z;CreER), contains a floxed allele of Tlx (f), the LacZ marker (Z), and a CreER fusion transgene. Addition of tamoxifen (4OH-tamoxifen) into this NSC population leads to Cre-mediated deletion of the floxed allele of Tlx. The second NSC population, Tlx(f/Z), does not contain a CreER transgene; thus it does not respond to tamoxifen treatment and was used as a control.

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