Transgenic mice with fluorescently tagged neuronal mitochondria as a new tool to study axonal transport

Homozygous transgenic mouse stain B6.Cg-Tg(Thy1-CFP/COX8A)S2Lich/J (also know as Thy-CFP-MitoS) was developed by Dr. Jeffrey W. Lichtman at Harvard University. The mice express mitochondria-targeting Cyan Fluorescent Protein (CFP) in neuronal cell populations including retinal ganglion cells, bipolar cells, amacrine cell and photoreceptors. The transgenic mice are viable, fertile, normal in size and do not display any abnormalities.

The mice can be used as an imaging tool to study in vivo mitochondria transport and vesicular trafficking in mouse neuronal cells.

The detailed description of the mouse strain can be found here.

The mouse strain is available for licensing from Harvard University and will be provided by The Jackson Laboratory.