The attP cassette in the Mi{MIC}VGlutMI04979 insertion has been replaced with a Trojan lexA:QFAD cassette that contains a splice acceptor site followed by the T2A peptide, the Ecol\lexA DNA-binding domain fused to the Ncra\QF activation domain (" lexA:QFAD ") and an Hsp70 transcription termination signal. The insertion is in the correct orientation to gene trap VGlut. The splice acceptor ensures that the T2A- lexA:QFAD open reading frame is incorporated into the VGlut mRNA, while the T2A sequence is expected to truncate the native VGlut gene product and promotes the separate translation of the lexA:QFAD open reading frame. Thus expression of the lexA:QFAD fusion protein is driven by the native VGlut regulatory sequences.
EcollexAVGlut-MI04979-TlexA:QFAD.2 drives expression in neurons that use glutamate as a neurotransmitter, and replicates the VGlut immunoreactivity pattern.