Table 1.

Characteristics of newly described mast cell (MC)-deficient mice

Deficiency	Mice	Construct	MC numbers	IgE-dependent MC function	Basophil numbers/ function	References
Constitutive	Mcpt5-Cre; R-DTA Tg(Cma1-cre) ARoer; B6.129P2-Gt(ROSA) 26Sortm1(DTA) Lky/J	Cross between R-DTA floxed mice and transgenic mice expressing Cre under the control of the Mcpt5 promoter	Steady-state: marked reductions in peritoneal (98%) and skin (89–96.5%) MCs, mucosal MCs (MMCs) unlikely to be depleted Inflammatory conditions: deficient in peritoneal MCs 4 h, 1 and 3 days following i.p. S. aureus infection	Not assessed	Not assessed (basophils thought not to express Mcpt5)	Dudeck et al. (2011) and Ronnberg et al. (2014)
	“Cre-Master” Cpa3Cre/+ Cpa3tm3(icre) Hrr	Gene targeting: Cre expression under the control of the Cpa3 promoter while deleting 28 nucleotides of the first exon of Cpa3 locus	Steady-state: absence of connective-tissue and mucosal MCs (in skin, peritoneum, intestine) Inflammatory conditions: remain deficient in skin MCs after PMA-induced dermatitis and in intestinal MMCs following helminth infection	Do not develop IgE-dependent models of PSA or PCA; PSA response restored by systemic engraftment of WT BMCMCs	60% reduction in spleen basophil numbers, basophil function not assessed	Feyerabend et al. (2011)
	“Hello Kitty” Cpa3-Cre; Mcl-1fl/fl Tg(Cpa3-cre) 3Glli; B6;129-Mcl1tm3sjkJ	Cross between Mcl-1 floxed mice and transgenic mice expressing Cre under the control of a Cpa3 promoter fragment	Steady-state: marked reductions (92–100%) in connective-tissue and mucosal MCs in the skin, trachea, lung, peritoneum, digestive tract, etc., but no reduction in small numbers of splenic MCs	Markedly reduced features of IgE-dependent models of PSA and PCA; PCA response restored by intradermal engraftment of WT BMCMCs	Reductions in basophil numbers in spleen (58%), blood (74%), and bone marrow (75%); markedly reduced IgE- and basophil-dependent chronic allergic inflammation of skin	Lilla et al. (2011)
Inducible	Mcpt5-Cre;iDTR Tg(Cma1-cre) ARoer; C57BL/6-Gt(ROSA) 26Sortm1(HBEGF) Awai/J	Cross between inducible DTR floxed mice and transgenic mice expressing Cre under the control of the Mcpt5 promoter	Steady-state: One week after 4 weekly i.p. and 2 s.c. DT treatments: deficient in peritoneal and skin MCs (97.5%); stomach and intestinal MMCs present Repopulation: 10% of pre-treatment skin and peritoneal MC numbers 3 weeks after the last DT treatment	Not assessed	Bone marrow basophils not affected 1 week after 4 weekly i.p. treatments with DT	Dudeck et al. (2011)
	“Mas-TRECK�	Transgenic mice expressing human DTR under the control of an intronic enhancer of the Il-4 gene	Steady-state: Three days after 5 daily i.p. DT treatments: deficient in peritoneal, skin, stomach, and mesenteric window MCs Repopulation: Skin MCs undetectable 12 days after the last DT treatment	Markedly reduced features of IgE-dependent models of PSA and PCA 2 days after 5 daily i.p. treatments with DT	Transient >95% reduction in blood basophil numbers 5 days after start of DT treatment and recovery 12 days after the last DT treatment; markedly reduced features of IgE- and basophil-dependent chronic allergic inflammation of skin (induced 2 days after 5 daily i.p. treatments with DT)	Otsuka et al. (2011) and Sawaguchi et al. (2012)
	Cpa3-Cre;iDTR Tg(Cpa3-cre) 3Glli; C57BL/6-Gt(ROSA) 26Sortm1(HBEGF) Awai/J	Cross between inducible DTR floxed mice and transgenic mice expressing Cre under the control of a Cpa3 promoter fragment	Steady-state: One week after 2 weekly intra-articular injections of low dose DT (50 ng): deficient in synovial MCs in the ankle joints. No effect on blood basophils 48 h after i.p. injection of 500 ng DT; deficient in peritoneal MCs, but no effect on ear skin MCs Repopulation: Not assessed	Markedly reduced IgE-dependent tissue swelling in the joints after intra-articular MC depletion (Reber et al., unpublished data)	Reduced blood basophils after i.p. treatments with DT, but basophils are not affected after i.a. DT injection	Reber, Marichal, et al. (2014)
	KitCreERT2/+ R26-GFPStopFDTA	Cross between R26-GFPStopFDTA mice, in which expression of DTA is induced upon the removal of a loxP-flanked STOP cassette, and transgenic KitCreERT2/+ mice expressing a tamoxifen-inducible Cre recombinase (CreER) under the control of one allele of the endogenous c-kit locus	Steady-state: Fourteen days following treatment with a tamoxifen-containing diet (400 mg/kg tamoxifen citrate): deficient in peritoneal, ear skin, back skin, and glandular stomach MCs Inflammatory conditions: following tamoxifen regimen and upon IL-3 injection, no increase in Mcpt1 and Mcpt2 expression in the small intestine, as well as no detectable mMCP-1+ cells in the large intestine Repopulation: Ear skin and peritoneal MCs undetectable 4 weeks after the tamoxifen treatment	Markedly reduced features of IgE-dependent models of PSA and PCA 14 days after the beginning of tamoxifen-containing diet	Splenic basophil number slightly reduced 14 days following tamoxifen regimen, restored when analyzed 4 weeks after the cessation of the treatment	Heger, Seidler, et al. (2014)

This is an updated version of Table 1 from Reber, Marichal, and Galli (2012).