The finding that murine and simian cells have differential susceptibility to diphtheria toxin
(DTx) led to the development of genetically engineered mouse strains that express the
simian or human diphtheria toxin receptor (DTR) under the control of various mouse gene
promoters. Injection of DTx into DTR engineered mice allows for rapid and transient
depletion of various cell populations. There are several advantages to this approach over
global knockout mice, including normal mouse development and temporal control over …