Summary
Researchers at The University of Nebraska Medical Center have
developed a Janus Kinase 2 (Jak2) conditional knockout mouse. The
mating of a conditional Jak2 mouse with an MMTV-Cre strain has
resulted in the excision of the first coding exon of the Jak2 alleles
that contains the transcriptional start codon thus creating a Jak2
null mutation. Utilizing this technology, the developers have shown
that murine Jak2-/- embryos express no detectable Jak2 or
phosphorylated STAT5 protein, and die at day 12.5 of gestation do to
the lack of erythropoiesis, supporting the requirement for Jak2-STAT5
in EPO signaling. In addition, the mating of the Jak2 conditional
knockout with the Wap- Cre transgenic mouse strain led to the
inhibition of STAT5 activation in response to PRL stimulation in
mammary epithelial cells. Janus Kinases show pleiotropic
biological functions, and are known to participate in multiple
cytokine and hormone receptor signal transduction pathways.

Market Value
This unique Jak2 conditional knockout mouse will likely be useful in
further understanding signaling events dependent upon Jak2 and
its downstream effector molecules. This knowledge will ultimately
be useful in determining novel drug delivery pathways for multiple
disease conditions which use this pathway of cell signal
transduction.

Features and Benefits
• Animal model which allows ablation of Jak2 in specific cell types
• Can be applied to study cytokine and hormone signalling in
various types of tissues
• Potential drug delivery system for Jak2 associated pathways

 (TID - 111)

UNeMed Corporation offers a variety of licensing options and collaborative development opportunities with the University of Nebraska Medical Center.