Generation of Sigmar1 conditional knockout mouse using CRISPR-Cas9 gene targeting

The Sigma 1 receptor (SIGMAR1) is a transmembrane protein located in the mitochondria-associated endoplasmic reticulum membrane, and plays an important role in cell survival as a pluripotent modulator of a variety of signaling pathways related to neurodegeneration. Though SIGMAR1 is a potential target for neurodegenerative diseases, the specific role of SIGMAR1 in different tissue and cell types remains unclear. Here we reported the generation of Sigmar1 conditional knockout (Sigmar1^loxP) mice using CRISPR-Cas9 method to insert loxP sites into the 5′- and 3′-untranslated regions of Sigmar1. We showed that the insertion of loxP sequences did not affect the expression of Sigmar1 and that Sigmar1^loxP/loxP mice exhibited no detectable visual defects compared with wild-type mice at the early adult stage. By crossing Sigmar1^loxP mice with retina-specific Six3-Cre and ubiquitous CMV-Cre mice, we confirmed the deletion of Sigmar1 coding regions of exons 1–4, and the retina-specific and global loss of SIGMAR1 expression, respectively. Thus, Sigmar1^loxP mice provide a valuable tool for unraveling the tissue and cell-type-specific role of Sigmar1.