Conditional STAT3 Knockout Mice Generation

Generation of mice with a conditional STAT3 allele has been described previously (9 (link)). Exons 18–20, which contain the SH2 domain of STAT3, were flanked by two loxP sites. Two Tie2-Cre transgenic mouse strains expressing Cre under the control of the TIE2–kinase promoter/enhancer were generated. One was described previously with expression in hematopoietic and ECs (14 (link), 22 (link)), and here, we describe another with a more endothelial-specific expression. The TIE2e-Cre;STAT3^f/d mutant mice were generated through TIE2e-Cre;STAT3^+/d mice crossed to STAT3^f/f mice. The genotype was determined by PCR as described previously (9 (link)). TIE2e-Cre mice were mated with Z/EG reporter mice, which produce green fluorescence protein (GFP) from a constitutive promoter after removal of LacZ by cre-mediated recombination (23 (link)). Transthyretin (TTR) Cre mice were generated in our laboratory (unpublished data) and the α-MHC-Cre mice were from M. Schneider (Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX). All procedures were performed in accordance with the National Institutes of Health Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals and under the approval of the Yale Medical School Animal Care and Use Committee.