This technology describes mouse models for studying the role of the BCL6 oncogene in lymphoma development and germinal center-based immune responses.
The BCL6 proto-oncogene encodes a zinc-finger transcriptional repressor that has been shown to contribute to lymphomagenesis. Furthermore, this gene is observed to play a critical role in regulating germinal center immune response. As such, mouse models of BCL6 inactivation would be highly useful for biomedical research into lymphoma development and, more broadly, for immunological studies on T cell-dependent germinal center responses.
This technology describes two mouse models of BCL6 inactivation generated by homologous recombination in embryonic stem cells. A truncated BCL6 allele lacking exons 8-9 and a BCL6 allele lacking almost the entirety of the coding region (exons 4-10) both serve as functionally null models with identical phenotypes. These knock-out animals exhibit inflammatory disease and defective germinal center formation. As a result, these mouse lines provide an in vivo model to assess the function of BCL6 in lymphoma development and in immunological studies on the roles of germinal centers.
IR CU21195
Licensing Contact: Joan Martinez