Gene Editing in Rat Embryonic Stem Cells to Produce In Vitro Models and In Vivo Reporters

Recent Advances in CRISPR/Cas9 Delivery Approaches for Therapeutic Gene Editing of Stem Cells

Rapid advancement in genome editing technologies has provided new promises for treating neoplasia, cardiovascular, neurodegenerative, and monogenic disorders. Recently, the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9) system has emerged as a powerful gene editing tool offering advantages, including high editing efficiency and low cost over the conventional approaches. Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs), with their great proliferation and differentiation potential into different cell types, have been exploited in stem cell-based therapy. The potential of hPSCs and the capabilities of CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing has been paradigm-shifting in medical genetics for over two decades. Since hPSCs are categorized as hard-to-transfect cells, there is a critical demand to develop an appropriate and effective approach for CRISPR/Cas9 delivery into these cells. This review focuses on various strategies for CRISPR/Cas9 delivery in stem cells.

Recent Advances in the Production of Genome-Edited Rats

The rat is an important animal model for understanding gene function and developing human disease models. Knocking out a gene function in rats was difficult until recently, when a series of genome editing (GE) technologies, including zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs), transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), and the type II bacterial clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated Cas9 (CRISPR/Cas9) systems were successfully applied for gene modification (as exemplified by gene-specific knockout and knock-in) in the endogenous target genes of various organisms including rats. Owing to its simple application for gene modification and its ease of use, the CRISPR/Cas9 system is now commonly used worldwide. The most important aspect of this process is the selection of the method used to deliver GE components to rat embryos. In earlier stages, the microinjection (MI) of GE components into the cytoplasm and/or nuclei of a zygote was frequently employed. However, this method is associated with the use of an expensive manipulator system, the skills required to operate it, and the egg transfer (ET) of MI-treated embryos to recipient females for further development. In vitro electroporation (EP) of zygotes is next recognized as a simple and rapid method to introduce GE components to produce GE animals. Furthermore, in vitro transduction of rat embryos with adeno-associated viruses is potentially effective for obtaining GE rats. However, these two approaches also require ET. The use of gene-engineered embryonic stem cells or spermatogonial stem cells appears to be of interest to obtain GE rats; however, the procedure itself is difficult and laborious. Genome-editing via oviductal nucleic acids delivery (GONAD) (or improved GONAD (i-GONAD)) is a novel method allowing for the in situ production of GE zygotes existing within the oviductal lumen. This can be performed by the simple intraoviductal injection of GE components and subsequent in vivo EP toward the injected oviducts and does not require ET. In this review, we describe the development of various approaches for producing GE rats together with an assessment of their technical advantages and limitations, and present new GE-related technologies and current achievements using those rats in relation to human diseases.

Editing SOX Genes by CRISPR-Cas: Current Insights and Future Perspectives

Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) and its associated proteins (Cas) is an adaptive immune system in archaea and most bacteria. By repurposing these systems for use in eukaryote cells, a substantial revolution has arisen in the genome engineering field. In recent years, CRISPR-Cas technology was rapidly developed and different types of DNA or RNA sequence editors, gene activator or repressor, and epigenome modulators established. The versatility and feasibility of CRISPR-Cas technology has introduced this system as the most suitable tool for discovering and studying the mechanism of specific genes and also for generating appropriate cell and animal models. SOX genes play crucial roles in development processes and stemness. To elucidate the exact roles of SOX factors and their partners in tissue hemostasis and cell regeneration, generating appropriate in vitro and in vivo models is crucial. In line with these premises, CRISPR-Cas technology is a promising tool for studying different family members of SOX transcription factors. In this review, we aim to highlight the importance of CRISPR-Cas and summarize the applications of this novel, promising technology in studying and decoding the function of different members of the SOX gene family.

Generation of Transgenic Rat Embryonic Stem Cells Using the CRISPR/Cpf1 System for Inducible Gene Knockout

Rat embryonic stem cells (ESCs) play an important role in the studies of genes involved in maintaining of pluripotent state and early development of this model organism. To study functions of the essential genes, as well as the processes of cell differentiation, the method of induced knockout is widely used. The CreERT2/loxP system allows obtaining an inducible knockout in cells expressing tamoxifen-inducible Cre recombinase (CreERT2) and containing loxP sites flanking the target gene by adding 4-hydroxy tamoxifen to the culture medium. However, the rat ESC lines expressing CreERT2 are absent. In this work, we tested three CRISPR/Cas systems for introduction of double-strand breaks into the Rosa26 locus in the rat ESCs and inserted tamoxifen-dependent Cre recombinase into this locus using the CRISPR/Cpf1 system. It was shown that the obtained transgenic rat ESC lines retained the characteristics of pluripotent cells. Tamoxifen-inducible Cre recombinase activity was analyzed using a reporter vector.

Ultrastructural heterogeneity of the mitochondrial population in rat embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells

Even though rats are popular model animals, the ultrastructure of their pluripotent cells, that is, embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), remains unexplored, although fine structure of pluripotent stem cells of mice and humans and its changes during differentiation have been investigated well. In the present study, we carried out ultrastructural and morphometric analyses of three lines of rat ESCs and two lines of rat iPSCs. The rat pluripotent stem cells were found to have the main typical morphological features of pluripotent cells: large nuclei of irregular or nearly round shape, scanty cytoplasm with few membrane organelles, and a poorly developed Golgi apparatus and endoplasmic reticulum. The cytoplasm of the rat pluripotent cells contains clusters of glycogen, previously described in human ESCs. To identify possible differences between rat ESCs and iPSCs, we performed a morphometric analysis of cell parameters. The mean area of cells and nuclei, the nuclear/cytoplasmic ratio, distributions of glycogen and diversity of mitochondria showed marked variations among the lines of rat pluripotent stem cells and were more pronounced than variations between rat ESCs and iPSCs as separate types of pluripotent stem cells. We noted morphological heterogeneity of the mitochondrial population in the rat pluripotent stem cells. The cells contained three types of mitochondria differing in the structure of cristae and in matrix density, and our morphometric analysis revealed differences in cristae structure.

An optimized proliferation system of embryonic stem cells for generating the rat model with large fragment modification

Rats have long been an ideal model for disease research in the field of biomedicine, but the bottleneck of in vitro culture of rat embryonic stem (ES) cells hindered the wide application as genetic disease models. Here, we optimized a special medium which we named 5N-medium for rat embryonic stem cells, which improved the in vitro cells with better morphology and higher pluripotency. We then established a drug selection schedule harboring a prior selection of 12 h that achieved a higher positive selection ratio. These treatments induced at least 50% increase of homologous recombination efficiency compared with conventional 2i culture condition. Moreover, the ratio of euploid ES clones also increased by 50% with a higher germline transmission rate. Finally, we successfully knocked in a 175 kb human Bacterial Artificial Chromosome (BAC) fragment to rat ES genome through recombinase mediated cassette exchange (RMCE). Hence, we provide a promising system for generating sophisticated rat models which could be benefit for biomedical researches.

Whole-Cell Patch Clamp Recordings from Oligodendrocyte Lineage Cells in Brain Slices

The whole-cell configuration of the patch-clamp technique is widely used to study electrically active cells and passive membrane properties, as well as the properties and pharmacology of ion channels, neurotransmitter receptors, and electrogenic transporters, in almost any cell type. In the brain, in addition to neurons, oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) that give rise to myelinating oligodendrocytes (OLs) are also excitable. Electrophysiological techniques provide the main tool for the thorough investigation of the electrogenic capacity of such cell types. Although there are many published protocols for whole-cell recordings, there are very few that touch upon the electrophysiological characteristics of oligodendrocyte lineage cells. Here we provide a detailed methodology for how to acquire and analyze whole-cell recordings from excitable cells, with a focus on oligodendrocyte lineage cells. We provide a protocol on how to successfully identify OPCs and OLs in brain slices, either with the use of transgenic animal models or through morphological and electrophysiological profiling. The method described can also be easily adopted for whole-cell recordings from oligodendrocyte lineage cells in vitro.

The Rat: A Model Used in Biomedical Research

The laboratory rat, Rattus norvegicus, has been used in biomedical research for more than 150 years, and in many cases remains the model of choice for studies of physiology, behavior, and complex human disease. This book provides detailed information on a number of methodologies that can be used in rat. This chapter gives an introduction to rat as a species and as a biomedical model, providing historical information, a brief introduction to the current state of rat research, and a perspective on the future of rat as a model for human disease.