Tg(Rgs21-TagRFP)6Dski

BAC recombineering was employed to insert the coding sequence for the TagRFP-T variant of Red Fluorescent Protein into a 232-kb mouse Chr 1 bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) (RP23-126D12) so that the TagRFP is expressed from the promoter of the mouse regulator of G-protein signaling 21 (Rgs21) gene. TagRFP is an optimized monomeric derivative of the tetrameric eqFP578 from the sea anemone Entacmaea quadricolor. Epifluorescence confocal microscopic imaging of sections of mouse circumvallate papillae from transgenic mice shows co-localization of TagRFP and immunolabeled gustducin alpha subunit in taste bud cells, and TagRFP fluorescence is clearly visualized by XZ confocal microscopy in cells of tracheal epithelium explanted from transgenic mice and cultured at an air-liquid interface for three weeks. This expression pattern is consistent with that of the native RGS21 protein in taste buds and lung tissue. (J:193014)