Transgenic mice

Atf6^f/f, Eif2ak3^f/f, Vav1^cre, and CD11c^cre mice were obtained from The Jackson Laboratory. Xbp1^f/f and Ern1^f/f mice have been previously described by our groups (4, 47). We generated conditional knockout mice lacking ATF6, IRE1α, or XBP1 in leukocytes by crossing Atf6^f/f, Ern1^f/f, or Xbp1^f/f animals, respectively, with the Vav1^cre strain that allows selective gene deletion in hematopoietic cells (20). Crossing Eif2ak3^f/f mice with CD11c^cre animals generated mice devoid of PERK in DCs. All mouse strains were on a full C57BL/6J background. Mice were housed in specific pathogen-free animal facilities at Weill Cornell Medical College, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and Wake Forest University. Mice were handled in compliance with Weill Cornell Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees procedures. Mice used for behavioral pain tests were housed at Wake Forest School of Medicine, in accordance with the Wake Forest University Guidelines on the ethical use of animals. The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Wake Forest University approved all pain-related experiments. Animals were housed under a 12-hour light–dark cycle, with food and water ad libitum.