The 5' region of the rat nestin gene was placed upstream of an NLS-Cre-pA and the rat nestin intron 2. This line carried a single or low copy transgene. The absence of transcript expression was confirmed by RT-PCR on endoneurial extracts. This promoter is active by E9 in the CNS progenitor cells. Transgene is paternally imprinted, thus brain-specific recombination is only 30% when allele is maternally inherited, compared to ~95% with paternal transmission (J:75417, J:121563).