Efficient targeting of expressed and silent genes in human ESCs and iPSCs using zinc-finger nucleases (original) (raw)

• Letter
• Published: 13 August 2009
• Frank Soldner1 na1,
• Caroline Beard1,
• Qing Gao1,
• Maisam Mitalipova1,
• Russell C DeKelver2,
• George E Katibah2,
• Ranier Amora2,
• Elizabeth A Boydston2,
• Bryan Zeitler2,
• Xiangdong Meng2,
• Jeffrey C Miller2,
• Lei Zhang2,
• Edward J Rebar2,
• Philip D Gregory2,
• Fyodor D Urnov2 &
• …
• Rudolf Jaenisch1,3

Nature Biotechnology volume 27, pages 851–857 (2009)Cite this article

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Abstract

Realizing the full potential of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) requires efficient methods for genetic modification. However, techniques to generate cell type–specific lineage reporters, as well as reliable tools to disrupt, repair or overexpress genes by gene targeting, are inefficient at best and thus are not routinely used. Here we report the highly efficient targeting of three genes in human pluripotent cells using zinc-finger nuclease (ZFN)–mediated genome editing. First, using ZFNs specific for the OCT4 (POU5F1) locus, we generated OCT4-eGFP reporter cells to monitor the pluripotent state of hESCs. Second, we inserted a transgene into the AAVS1 locus to generate a robust drug-inducible overexpression system in hESCs. Finally, we targeted the PITX3 gene, demonstrating that ZFNs can be used to generate reporter cells by targeting non-expressed genes in hESCs and hiPSCs.

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Acknowledgements

We thank R. Alagappan, P. Xu and E. Cook for technical support and J. Dausman, R. Flannery and D. Fu for their help with animal husbandry and processing of teratomas. We thank all the members of the Jaenisch laboratory for helpful discussions and comments on the manuscript. D.H. is a Merck Fellow of the Life Science Research Foundation. R.J. was supported by US National Institutes of Health grants R37-CA084198, RO1-CA087869 and RO1-HD045022: and by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Requests for ZFNs should be directed to F.D.U. (furnov@sangamo.com).

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Author notes

1. Dirk Hockemeyer and Frank Soldner: These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

1. The Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
   Dirk Hockemeyer, Frank Soldner, Caroline Beard, Qing Gao, Maisam Mitalipova & Rudolf Jaenisch
2. Sangamo BioSciences, Inc., Richmond, California, USA
   Russell C DeKelver, George E Katibah, Ranier Amora, Elizabeth A Boydston, Bryan Zeitler, Xiangdong Meng, Jeffrey C Miller, Lei Zhang, Edward J Rebar, Philip D Gregory & Fyodor D Urnov
3. Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
   Rudolf Jaenisch

Authors

1. Dirk Hockemeyer
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2. Frank Soldner
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3. Caroline Beard
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4. Qing Gao
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5. Maisam Mitalipova
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6. Russell C DeKelver
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7. George E Katibah
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8. Ranier Amora
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9. Elizabeth A Boydston
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10. Bryan Zeitler
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11. Xiangdong Meng
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12. Jeffrey C Miller
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13. Lei Zhang
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14. Edward J Rebar
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15. Philip D Gregory
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16. Fyodor D Urnov
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17. Rudolf Jaenisch
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Contributions

D.H., F.S. and R.J. designed the experiments and wrote the paper. C.B. provided assistance with construct design and Southern blot analysis. Q.G. analyzed all teratomas. M.M. provided hESCs. J.C.M. and L.Z. designed the ZFNs, which were assembled and tested by R.C.D., G.E.K. and R.A. X.M. performed the SELEX experiments. E.A.B. and B.Z. genotyped ZFN-edited clones for off-target effects. F.D.U., E.J.R. and P.D.G. supervised the ZFN design, characterization and off-target analysis and helped analyze the data and write the paper. D.H. and F.S. performed all other experiments.

Corresponding author

Correspondence toRudolf Jaenisch.

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Competing interests

R.J. is an adviser to Stemgen and a cofounder of Fate Therapeutics. R.C.D., G.E.K., R.A., B.Z., X.M., J.C.M., L.Z., E.J.R., P.D.G. and F.D.U. are full-time employees of Sangamo BioSciences, Inc.

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Hockemeyer, D., Soldner, F., Beard, C. et al. Efficient targeting of expressed and silent genes in human ESCs and iPSCs using zinc-finger nucleases.Nat Biotechnol 27, 851–857 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt.1562

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• Received: 08 June 2009
• Accepted: 10 August 2009
• Published: 13 August 2009
• Issue Date: September 2009
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt.1562

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