• Hydroxysteroid (17-beta) dehydrogenase type 1 (HSD17B1) converts low-active estrogen estrone to highly active estradiol.
• Postpubertal mammary gland development is extensively hormonally regulated, and 17-beta-estradiol (E2) is a hormone essential for normal postpubertal mammary gland development.
• The full coding sequences of human HSD17B1 gene that is driven by CAG promoter are inserted into mouse Gt(ROSA)26Sor locus in B-hHSD17B1-Luc mice.
• Human HSD17B1 was exclusively detected in uterus and ovary from heterozygous B-hHSD17B1-Luc mice but not in wild-type mice.
• Heterozygous B-hHSD17B1-Luc mice can not conceive.
• Humanized mice can be used to study the in vivo for cancer.

Gene targeting strategy for B-hHSD17B1-Luc mice. The full coding sequences of human HSD17B1 gene that is driven by CAG promoter are inserted into mouse Gt(ROSA)26Sor locus in B-hHSD17B1-Luc mice.

Western blot analysis of HSD17B1 protein expression in heterozygous B-hHSD17B1-Luc mice. Various tissue lysates were collected from wild-type C57BL/6N (+/+) mice and heterozygous B-hHSD17B1-Luc mice (H/+), and then analyzed by western blot with anti-hHSD17B1 antibody (Abcam, ab51045). 40 μg total proteins were loaded for western blotting analysis. Human HSD17B1 was exclusively detected in uterus and ovary from heterozygous B-hHSD17B1-Luc mice but not in wild-type mice.