Diversity of neural crest derivatives has been studied with a variety of approaches during embryonic development. In mammals Cre-LoxP lineage tracing is a robust means to fate map neural crest relying on cre driven from regulatory elements of early neural crest genes. Sox10 is an essential transcription factor for normal neural crest development. A variety of efforts have been made to label neural crest derivatives using partial Sox10 regulatory elements to drive cre expression. To date published Sox10-cre lines have focused primarily on lineage tracing in specific tissues or during early fetal development. We describe two new Sox10-cre BAC transgenes, constitutive (cre) and inducible (cre/ER^T2), that contain the complete repertoire of Sox10 regulatory elements. We present a thorough expression profile of each, identifying a few novel sites of Sox10 expression not captured by other neural crest cre drivers. Comparative mapping of expression patterns between the Sox10-cre and Sox10-cre/ER^T2 transgenes identified a narrow temporal window in which Sox10 expression is present in mesenchymal derivatives prior to becoming restricted to neural elements during embryogenesis. In more caudal structures, such as the intestine and lower urinary tract, our Sox10-cre BAC transgene appears to be more efficient in labeling neural crest-derived cell types than Wnt1-cre. The analysis reveals consistent expression of Sox10 in non-neural crest derived glandular epithelium, including salivary, mammary, and urethral glands of adult mice. These Sox10-cre and Sox10-cre/ER^T2 transgenic lines are verified tools that will enable refined temporal and cell-type specific lineage analysis of neural crest derivatives as well as glandular tissues that rely on Sox10 for proper development and function.

神经嵴衍生物的多样性已经在胚胎发育过程中用多种方法进行了研究。在哺乳动物中，Cre-LoxP 谱系追踪是一种可靠的方法来绘制神经嵴的命运图，依赖于早期神经嵴基因的调节元件驱动的cre 。Sox10是正常神经嵴发育的重要转录因子。已经进行了各种努力来标记神经嵴衍生物，使用部分Sox10调节元件来驱动cre表达。迄今为止，已发表的 Sox10- cre 系主要关注特定组织或胎儿早期发育过程中的谱系追踪。我们描述了两个新的Sox10-cre BAC 转基因，组成型 (cre) 和诱导型 (cre/ER ^T2 )，包含完整的Sox10调节元件库。我们提供了每个人的完整表达谱，确定了一些其他神经嵴cre驱动程序未捕获的Sox10表达的新位点。Sox10 -cre 和Sox10 -cre/ER ^T2转基因之间表达模式的比较映射确定了一个狭窄的时间窗口，其中Sox10表达存在于间充质衍生物中，然后在胚胎发生过程中仅限于神经元件。在更多的尾部结构中，例如肠道和下尿路，我们的Sox10 -cre BAC 转基因在标记神经嵴衍生细胞类型方面似乎比Wnt1 -cre 更有效。分析揭示了Sox10在非神经嵴衍生的腺上皮中的一致表达，包括成年小鼠的唾液腺、乳腺和尿道腺。这些Sox10 -cre 和Sox10 -cre/ER ^T2转基因系是经过验证的工具，可以对依赖 Sox10 进行适当发育和功能的神经嵴衍生物以及腺组织进行精细的时间和细胞类型特异性谱系分析。