Genetic Mouse Models for Immunological Studies

Tcf7^−/− (Verbeek et al., 1995 (link)), Id2^gfp (Jackson et al., 2011 (link)), Rorc(γt)^gfp (Eberl et al., 2004 (link)), c-maf^−/− (Kawauchi et al., 1999 (link)), Tcf7^fl/fl (Steinke et al., 2014 (link)), Cd4Cre (Sawada et al., 1994 (link)), and dLckCre (Zhang and Bevan, 2012 (link)) have been previously described and were all maintained on a C57BL/6 (Ly5.2) background (originally derived from the Jackson Laboratory). The Tcf7^−/− line was crossed to the maf^−/+ and Rorc(γt)^gfp+/− strains to generate the Tcf7^−/−maf^+/− and Tcf7^−/−Rorc(γt)^gfp+/− lines, respectively. Tcf7^−/−maf^+/− mice were maintained as a heterozygous line on the C57BL/6 background as mice lacking both alleles exhibit early postnatal mortality (Kawauchi et al., 1999 (link)). Mice were bred and maintained in-house. All mice were used at 6–8 wk old, and procedures were performed in accordance with approvals for the Animal Ethics Committee of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research.