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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2021 Jul 26.
Published in final edited form as: Annu Rev Immunol. 2021 Feb 8;39:251–277. doi: 10.1146/annurev-immunol-093019-110159

Table 1.

Existing tamoxifen-inducible mouse lines for fate mapping and genetic manipulation of microglia and CNS-associated macrophages in adult mice

Line References Recombination in microglia Recombination in CAMs Recombination in nonmyeloid CNS cells Recombination in blood cells
Cx3crlCnERT2 168–170 High High No Transient, high in blood monocytes
Csf1rMer-iCre-Mer 28,32 High Unknown In a small subset of embryonic endothelial cells, EMPs Transient, high in blood monocytes
Sall1CreERT2 40,171, 176, 177, 190 High No Relatively high in astrocytes and oligodendrocytes, lower in neurons No
Tmeml19CreERT2 173 High No CD31+ endothelial cells, perivascular fibroblasts, meningeal fibroblasts Transient (?), very low in CD45+ cells
HexbCreERT2 171 High Very low No Transient, very low in monocytes, granulocytes
P2ryl2CreERT2 175 High Very low (dura) No No

This table does not include all mouse lines ever used in microglial research. Lines with constitutive Cre expression (e.g., Cx3cr1GFP, Siglec1Cre, VaviCre), poor recombination in microglia in general (e.g., LysmCre, Flt3Cre), or applications in early hematopoietic fate mapping during embryogenesis (e.g., Runx1CreERT2, Cdh5CreERT2) are not included. Abbreviations: CAM, CNS-associated macrophage; CNS, central nervous system; EMP, erythromyeloid precursor.