# Generation of novel cell type specific mouse genetic tools

> **NIH NIH U19** · ALLEN INSTITUTE · 2021 · $1,619,714

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Understanding how neural circuits process sensory information, generate movement and give rise to other
complex behaviors requires an inventory of the cell types comprising these circuits and a means of studying
their intrinsic properties and functional connectivity. Recent years have witnessed a revolution in our ability to
identify and characterize cell types from highly complex organs based on their transcriptomes. Such
transcriptomic analysis – enabled by remarkable advances in single-cell RNA-sequencing technologies – not
only allows a definitive classification of cell types but also genetic information that can be used to access these
cells experimentally. In parallel, significant advances have been made over the last decade in interrogating
neuronal anatomy and function by driving expression of fluorescent protein reporters and optogenetic and
chemogenetic effectors in specific cell types using cell type-specific transcriptional promoters. However, many
if not most cell types in the brain cannot be defined by a single gene marker alone but rather require
combinations of markers to allow their unambiguous identification. Thus, comprehensive access to cell types in
the mammalian brain will require a strategy to create – at scale – mouse lines in which cell types are labeled
intersectionally based on co-expression of multiple marker genes. In this Research Segment, we will deploy an
efficient mouse transgenic pipeline based on CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing technologies to generate
intersectional mouse driver/reporter lines that label cell types discovered by transcriptomics in Research
Segment 1 and from other groups around the world. Our mouse genome engineering pipeline is scalable and
designed to allow the rapid generation and screening of mouse reporter lines for downstream anatomical and
functional analysis.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10168634
- **Project number:** 5U19MH114830-05
- **Recipient organization:** ALLEN INSTITUTE
- **Principal Investigator:** JOHN J. NGAI
- **Activity code:** U19 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $1,619,714
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-20 → 2023-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10168634

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10168634, Generation of novel cell type specific mouse genetic tools (5U19MH114830-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10168634. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*