Strain Detail: FVB.lox-HRas mice

The FVB.lox-HRas mice are transgenic mice expressing the probe which is consisted of förster (or fluorescence) resonance energy transfer (FRET) biosensor (Raichu-Ras) monitoring H-Ras activity added with lox-tdKeima. H-Ras, a member of low molecular weight GTP binding protein of Ras family, is a important intracellular signal transduction molecule and it's related to cell proliferation and cancer. This strain expresses Keima fluorescent protein under the control of CAG promoter in almost all tissues. These mice are able to switch expression tissue-specifically from Keima fluorescent protein to FRET biosensor by mating with tissue-specific Cre-expressed mouse. It's possible to measure Rac1 activity spatially and temporally in fetal or adult various tissues by live imaging observation of this strain in the two-photon microscopy. This strain expects not only to analyze the signal transduction cascade in live animals, but also apply drug development such as the pharmacodynamic analysis targeting signal molecules, because these mice are showed rich expression in primary cultured cells derived from various tissues. FRET biosensor generally can't use for fixed samples.