Generation and validation of versatile inducible CRISPRi embryonic stem cell and mouse model.
Rui LiXianyou XiaXing WangXiaoyu SunZhongye DaiDawei HuoHuimin ZhengHaiqing XiongAibin HeXudong WuPublished in: PLoS biology (2020)
Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)-CRISPR-associated (Cas) 9 has been widely used far beyond genome editing. Fusions of deactivated Cas9 (dCas9) to transcription effectors enable interrogation of the epigenome and controlling of gene expression. However, the large transgene size of dCas9-fusion hinders its applications especially in somatic tissues. Here, we develop a robust CRISPR interference (CRISPRi) system by transgenic expression of doxycycline (Dox) inducible dCas9-KRAB in mouse embryonic stem cells (iKRAB ESC). After introduction of specific single-guide RNAs (sgRNAs), the induced dCas9-KRAB efficiently maintains gene inactivation, although it modestly down-regulates the expression of active genes. The proper timing of Dox addition during cell differentiation or reprogramming allows us to study or screen spatiotemporally activated promoters or enhancers and thereby the gene functions. Furthermore, taking the ESC for blastocyst injection, we generate an iKRAB knock-in (KI) mouse model that enables the shutdown of gene expression and loss-of-function (LOF) studies ex vivo and in vivo by a simple transduction of gRNAs. Thus, our inducible CRISPRi ESC line and KI mouse provide versatile and convenient platforms for functional interrogation and high-throughput screens of specific genes and potential regulatory elements in the setting of development or diseases.
Keyphrases
- genome editing
- genome wide
- gene expression
- crispr cas
- dna methylation
- high throughput
- mouse model
- genome wide identification
- copy number
- poor prognosis
- embryonic stem cells
- stem cells
- transcription factor
- genome wide analysis
- single cell
- binding protein
- neoadjuvant chemotherapy
- mesenchymal stem cells
- long non coding rna
- squamous cell carcinoma
- climate change
- lymph node
- cell therapy
- bone marrow
- type iii
- endothelial cells