Gli3fl/fl mice and lysozyme M (LysM)-cre mice were obtained from Jackson Labs (Bar Harbor, ME). Mice were bred and maintained at the UNH animal resource office (ARO). Mice were crossed to generate mice with conditional deletion of Gli3 in myeloid cells (M-Gli3−/−). Mice were genotyped at p6-p9 using toe clipping and were separated into M-Gli3−/− or WT groups. All experiments were approved by the UNH IACUC following guidelines of the National Institutes of Health. Mice were used for experiments when they reached 8–14 weeks of age.
Genotyping was performed using DNA extracted from mice toes using Phire Animal Tissue Direct PCR Kit (Fisher Scientific, F-140WH). The following PCR primer pairs were used: Gli3 flox, 5′-GATGAATGTGATCCAGGGC-3′ (forward) and 5′- GTCATATTGTGCCCAGTAGTAGC-3′ (reverse); Cre, 5′-GCGGTCTGGCAGTAAAAACTATC-3′ (forward) and 5′-GTGAAACAGCATTGCTGTCACTT-3′ (reverse); and recombined Gli3 (rGLI3), 5′-CTGGATGA ACCAAGCTTTCCATC-3′ (forward) and 5′-CAGTA GTAGCCTGGTTACAG-3′ (reverse). Samples were analyzed on 2% agarose gels.