The retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) provides vital metabolic support for retinal photoreceptor cells and is an important player in numerous retinal diseases. Gene manipulation in mice using the Cre-LoxP system is an invaluable tool for studying the genetic basis of these retinal diseases. However, existing RPE-targeted Cre mouse lines have critical limitations that restrict their reliability for studies of disease pathogenesis and treatment, including mosaic Cre expression, inducer-independent activity, off-target Cre expression, and intrinsic toxicity. Here, we report the generation and characterization of a knockin mouse line in which a P2A-CreERT2 coding sequence is fused with the native RPE-specific 65 kDa protein (Rpe65) gene for cotranslational expression of CreERT2. Cre+/- mice were able to recombine a stringent Cre reporter allele with more than 99% efficiency and absolute RPE specificity upon tamoxifen induction at both postnatal days (PD) 21 and 50. Tamoxifen-independent Cre activity was negligible at PD64. Moreover, tamoxifen-treated Cre+/- mice displayed no signs of structural or functional retinal pathology up to 4 months of age. Despite weak RPE65 expression from the knockin allele, visual cycle function was normal in Cre+/- mice. These data indicate that Rpe65CreERT2 mice are well suited for studies of gene function and pathophysiology in the RPE.
Keywords: Genetics; Mouse models; Ophthalmology; Retinopathy.