The Cre/loxP recombinase system is a genetic technology that provides a mechanism for conditional, inducible, and/or Spatio-temporal targeting of genetic modifications. The Cre recombinase enzyme functions to recognize and recombine LoxP DNA sequences, and this recombination can be used to delete, invert, or translocate segments of DNA.
DNA recombination can be used in a spectrum of ways to modify gene translation. For example, a gene of interest that is flanked by LoxP sites will be excised in the presence of Cre, resulting in a Cre-inducible knockout. In this way the Cre/LoxP system may be used to selectively induce gene knockout. Alternatively, subjects may be engineered to hold a lox-stop-lox (LSL) cassette upstream of a gene of interest. The lox-stop-lox cassette will prevent gene expression in the absence of Cre such that gene expression is only permitted following Cre-driven removal of the upstream stop codon by recombination of the LSL cassette. In this way the Cre/LoxP system may also be used to selectively induce gene expression. Many more strategies for gene manipulation exist for use of the Cre/LoxP system, and many require the selective and targeted expression of Cre recombinase.
The Cre recombinase expression system ensures a recombination efficiency of at least 70%, and thus facilitates precise genetic modifications. Its functionality extends across various DNA structures, including linear, circular, and supercoiled DNA, without requiring cofactors.
PackGene provides pre-made “off the shelf” AAV-Cre to drive the expression of Cre-recombinase.
