FIG 1.
Schematic diagram of development of SPP conditional mice using tamoxifen induction in vivo. (A) Schematic view of tamoxifen-inducible SPP knockout mice generation. SPPflox/flox mice were generated by crossing insertion deletion SPP KO (heterozygous SPP+/−) mice with FLPo mice to remove the FRT cassette. SPPflox/flox mice were then bred with CreERT2 mice to generate SPPflox/flox CreERT2+/+ mice, in which SPP can be knocked out by tamoxifen induction of Cre recombinase. (B) SPPflox/flox CreERT2+/+ mice were treated with tamoxifen or corn oil as a control. Cornea, TG, and liver were harvested after tamoxifen injection, and SPP mRNA levels were measured by qRT-PCR. (C) WT mice or SPPflox/flox CreERT2+/+ mice were treated as described above; TG and corneas were harvested, and SPP protein levels in cornea or TG were analyzed by Western blotting using anti-SPP antibody.