Lhx6 cre

Animal handling and experimentation were performed in accordance with US National Institute of Health and Weill Cornell Medical College Institutional Animal Care and Use Commission. Animals of both sexes were used and housed in a controlled environment on a 12 h light/dark cycle with food and water ad libitum. Swiss Webster (Taconic), VIP^Cre (Jackson Laboratories, 010908), Lhx6.Cre (Jackson Laboratories, 026555), Emx1^Cre (Jackson Laboratories, 005628), SERT^Cre (Jackson Laboratories, 014554), Wnt3a^Cre (a gift from Ulrich Müller), RCL-GCaMP6s (Ai96, Jackson Laboratories, 024106), RCL-ChR2 (Ai32, Jackson Laboratories, 024109), NR1^fl (Jackson Laboratories, 005246), and 5HT3aR.Cre (a gift from N. Heintz, Rockefeller University), were used for the studies. 5HT3aR.Cre, VIP^Cre, Lhx6.Cre, Emx1^Cre and Sert^Cre were crossed with RCL-GCaMP6s (denoted as 5HT3aR.GCaMP6s, VIP.GCaMP6s, Lhx6.GCaMP6s, Emx1.GCaMP6s, Sert.GCaMP6s). 5HT3aR.Cre animals were crossed with NR1^fl/fl (denoted as 5HT3aR.Cre,NR^fl/fl). Information about mouse strains including genotyping protocols can be found at http://www.jax.org and elsewhere (Gorski et al., 2002 (link); Louvi et al., 2007 (link); Narboux-Nême et al., 2008 (link); Taniguchi et al., 2011 (link)).

Single or double transgenic young adult mice (6–8 weeks, males and females) were used for all the experiments from the following genetically modified mouse lines: PV-cre (B6.129P2-Pvalbtm1(cre)Arbr/J), VGAT-Cre (backcrossed with B6, Slc32a1tm2(cre)Lowl/J), PV-Flp (B6.Cg-Pvalbtm4.1(flpo)Hze/J), and SST-cre (Ssttm2.1(cre)Zjh/J) mice were obtained from the Jackson laboratory; and Nestin-GFP (B6) mice were obtained from Dr. Grigori Enikolopov at Stony Brook University; and Lhx6-Cre (B6) mice were obtained from Dr. Seth Blackshaw at Johns Hopkins University. No immune deficiencies or other health problems were observed in these lines, and all animals were experimentally and drug naive before use. Animals were group housed and bred in a dedicated husbandry facility with 12/12 light-dark cycles with food and water ad libitum and under veterinary supervision. Animals subjected to surgical procedures were moved to a satellite housing facility for recovery with the same light-dark cycle. Occasional single-housing was required during cannulation experiments (2 – 3 weeks). All procedures were conducted in accordance with the NIH Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, and with approval of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC).