Transgenic animal models allow for "knockout" or "knockin" genetic studies that are critical for disease research and drug development. The creation of proper transgenic animals, however, is currently an inefficient process that can involve multiple animal lines over several years. This technology, referred to as the FAST (Flexible Accelerated STOP TetO-knockin) system, is an efficient method for manipulating gene expression in vivo that can be used to quickly generate several different varieties of transgenic mice. A chemically-regulated gene cassette is inserted near a gene of interest, permitting reversible control of gene expression at high temporal and spatial resolutions. This system can be used to rapidly develop several gain/loss of function animal models in a short amount of time, which can be screened for clinically-relevant abnormalities.
Using this technology, multiple transgenic mouse strains with variable expression patterns can be generated for a single gene targeting event. The FAST system initially uses a STOP-tetO gene cassette to generate a tetO knockin mouse in parallel with a target gene knockout mouse. These two models can then be used to achieve any of five possible applications for genetic studies: 1) gene knockout, 2) Cre-mediated rescue, 3) tTA-ectopic expression, 4) tTA-overexpression, and 5) tTS-knockout. Tissue-specific promoters can also be added to this system, enabling targeted genetic manipulation of specific cells. Furthermore, the reversible nature of the FAST system allows for temporary knockout studies to be performed and can be used to mimic disease conditions with and without treatment. The diverse applications of the FAST system make this technology highly relevant to applications involving comprehensive genetic screening such as oncogene discovery in cancer research.
The FAST system has been validated in vivo and used to successfully generate transgenic mice.
Patent Pending (US 20130061343)
Tech Ventures Reference: IR 2243