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The differentiation and migration of superficial dorsal horn neurons and subsequent ingrowth of primary afferents are crucial in the formation of somatosensory circuitry in the dorsal spinal cord.Our previous studies showed that Lmx1b mutants exhibited an aberrant migration and differentiation of laminae Ⅰ-Ⅱ neurons and a disruption of cutaneous primary afferent ingrowth into the spinal cord.But the mechanism underlying this selective blocking of cutaneous afferent ingrowth in Lmx1b mutant is unclear.In order to examine whether Lmx1b coordinates the projection of cutaneous afferent into the dorsal horn by regulating local axonal guidance cues,we generated Drg11-CreER transgenic mice in which inducible Cre recombinase can be expressed under the control of Drg11 promoter.Because Drgll,a paired homeodomain gene,is colocalized with Lmx1b in the developing dorsal horn,we can inactivate Lmx1b expression in the dorsal horn at desired time points by crossing Drg11-CreER mice with Lmx1b-floxed ones.So far we have obtained five Drg11-CreER transgenic lines,in three of which the expression pattern of Cre recombinase mimicked the endogenous Drg11 expression.