Coding exons one through four (second through fifth exons) are flanked by loxP sites. This allele was generated by in vivo, Cre recombinase-mediated deletion of a loxP-flanked neomycin resistance cassette from the first intron of Tln1tm4Crit in cre transgenic embryos homozygous for the latter allele (personal communication). Talin expression can be ablated in specific cell/tissue types by crossing homozygous mice with appropriate cre transgenic mice.