RESUMO
Different mutations of the OTOF gene, encoding for otoferlin protein expressed in the cochlear inner hair cells, induces a form of deafness that is the major cause of nonsyndromic recessive auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder in humans. We report the generation of the first large animal model of OTOF mutations using the CRISPR system associated with different Cas9 components (mRNA or protein) assisted by single strand oligodeoxynucleotides (ssODN) to induce homology-directed repair (HDR). Zygote microinjection was performed with two sgRNA targeting exon 5 and 6 associated to Cas9 mRNA or protein (RNP) at different concentrations in a mix with an ssODN template targeting HDR in exon 5 containing two STOP sequences. A total of 73 lambs were born, 13 showing indel mutations (17.8%), 8 of which (61.5%) had knock-in mutations by HDR. Higher concentrations of Cas9-RNP induced targeted mutations more effectively, but negatively affected embryo survival and pregnancy rate. This study reports by the first time the generation of OTOF disrupted sheep, which may allow better understanding and development of new therapies for human deafness related to genetic disorders. These results support the use of CRISPR/Cas system assisted by ssODN as an effective tool for gene editing in livestock.
Assuntos
Sistemas CRISPR-Cas , Edição de Genes/métodos , Proteínas de Membrana/genética , Oligodesoxirribonucleotídeos/genética , Ovinos/genética , Animais , Repetições Palindrômicas Curtas Agrupadas e Regularmente Espaçadas , Feminino , Masculino , Microinjeções , Mutação , Reparo de DNA por Recombinação , Ovinos/embriologiaRESUMO
While CRISPR/Cas9 technology has proven to be a valuable system to generate gene-targeted modified animals in several species, this tool has been scarcely reported in farm animals. Myostatin is encoded by MSTN gene involved in the inhibition of muscle differentiation and growth. We determined the efficiency of the CRISPR/Cas9 system to edit MSTN in sheep and generate knock-out (KO) animals with the aim to promote muscle development and body growth. We generated CRISPR/Cas9 mRNAs specific for ovine MSTN and microinjected them into the cytoplasm of ovine zygotes. When embryo development of CRISPR/Cas9 microinjected zygotes (n = 216) was compared with buffer injected embryos (n = 183) and non microinjected embryos (n = 173), cleavage rate was lower for both microinjected groups (P<0.05) and neither was affected by CRISPR/Cas9 content in the injected medium. Embryo development to blastocyst was not affected by microinjection and was similar among the experimental groups. From 20 embryos analyzed by Sanger sequencing, ten were mutant (heterozygous or mosaic; 50% efficiency). To obtain live MSTN KO lambs, 53 blastocysts produced after zygote CRISPR/Cas9 microinjection were transferred to 29 recipient females resulting in 65.5% (19/29) of pregnant ewes and 41.5% (22/53) of newborns. From 22 born lambs analyzed by T7EI and Sanger sequencing, ten showed indel mutations at MSTN gene. Eight showed mutations in both alleles and five of them were homozygous for indels generating out-of frame mutations that resulted in premature stop codons. Western blot analysis of homozygous KO founders confirmed the absence of myostatin, showing heavier body weight than wild type counterparts. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that CRISPR/Cas9 system was a very efficient tool to generate gene KO sheep. This technology is quick and easy to perform and less expensive than previous techniques, and can be applied to obtain genetically modified animal models of interest for biomedicine and livestock.
Assuntos
Animais Geneticamente Modificados , Sistemas CRISPR-Cas , Miostatina/genética , Animais , Feminino , Técnicas de Inativação de Genes , Microinjeções , Gravidez , Carneiro Doméstico/genética , ZigotoRESUMO
Lentiviral technology has been recently proposed to generate transgenic farm animals more efficiently and easier than traditional techniques. The objective was to evaluate several parameters of lambs obtained by lentiviral transgenesis in comparison with non-transgenic counterparts. In vitro produced embryos were microinjected (TG group) at two-cell stage with a lentiviral construct containing enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) gene, while embryos produced by in vitro fertilization (IVF group) or intrauterine insemination (IUI group) were not microinjected. Microinjection technique efficiently generated eight-cell transgenic embryos (97.4%; 114/117). Development rate on day 5 after fertilization was similar for TG (39.3%, 46/117) and IVF embryos (39.6%, 44/111). Pregnancy rate was detected in 50.0% (6/12) of recipient ewes with TG embryos, in 46.7% (7/15) with IVF embryos, and in 65.0% (13/20) of IUI ewes (P = NS). Nine lambs were born in TG group, six lambs in IVF group, and 16 lambs in IUI group. All TG lambs (9/9) were GFP positive to real-time PCR and eight (88.9%) showed a strong and evident GFP expression in mucosae, eyes and keratin tissues. Fetal growth monitored every 15 day by ultrasonography did not show significant differences. Transgenic lambs neither differ in morphometric variables in comparison with non transgenic IVF lambs within 3 months after birth. Transmission of the transgene to the progeny was observed in green fluorescent embryos produced by IVF using semen from the TG founder lambs. In conclusion, this study demonstrates the high efficiency of lentiviral technology to produce transgenic sheep, with no clinic differences in comparison with non transgenic lambs.
Assuntos
Desenvolvimento Embrionário/genética , Desenvolvimento Fetal/genética , Proteínas de Fluorescência Verde/genética , Lentivirus/genética , Animais , Animais Geneticamente Modificados/genética , Feminino , Fertilização in vitro , Vetores Genéticos , Gravidez , OvinosRESUMO
In this report, we show that in vitro stimulation of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) with B lymphoblastoid cell lines results in preferential proliferation of cells with the phenotypic, genotypic and functional characteristics of natural killer (NK) cells. This culture system offers a useful method for obtaining large numbers of pure NK cells on which biochemical, molecular and functional studies can be performed. Using this culture system, and average 25-fold increase in NK cell number is obtained, whereas the number of T cells is increased only 3-fold. At early times, activation of both T and NK cells occurs, as detected by the presence of activation antigens on both cell types, but actual proliferation of NK cells starts on day 6 of culture. Elimination of CD3(+)/CD5(+) T cells from the cultured cells gives homogeneous preparations of large numbers of CD16(+)/NKH-1(+) cells that have the morphology of large granular lymphocytes, are powerful effectors of both spontaneous and antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity, and rapidly proliferate in the presence of recombinant interleukin 2 (rIL-2). As fresh NK cells, NK cell-enriched preparations from 10-day cultures of Daudi-stimulated PBMC do not show rearrangement of the gene for the beta-chain of the T cell antigen receptor; the 1.3-kb functional transcript of the beta-chain gene was not expressed in NK cells, but the 1.0-kb truncated transcript was present in all preparations. Our data indicate that proliferation of both T and NK cells is dependent upon IL-2 production in the culture, because an anti-IL-2 antiserum completely suppresses proliferation. Because T cells, and in particular CD4(+) T cells, are required for preferential proliferation of NK cells, the NK cell stimulation induced by the B cell line is probably in part indirect, and due to induction of IL-2 production by allogeneic stimulation of CD4(+) cells. However, the B cell lines also need to interact directly with NK cells because neither allogeneic PBMC nor high doses of rIL-2 are sufficient to induce preferential proliferation of NK cells.