CRISPR-Cas9 Knockin Mice for Genome Editing and Cancer Modeling

• Generation of mouse lines with Cre-dependent and constitutive Cas9 expression
• Viral/nonviral delivery of sgRNA to the brain, vasculature, immune cells, and lung
• Modeling of competition between gain- and loss-of-function mutations in lung cancer
• A convenient platform for achieving efficient genome editing in vivo

SummaryCRISPR-Cas9 is a versatile genome editing technology for studying the functions of genetic elements. To broadly enable the application of Cas9 in vivo, we established a Cre-dependent Cas9 knockin mouse. We demonstrated in vivo as well as ex vivo genome editing using adeno-associated virus (AAV)-, lentivirus-, or particle-mediated delivery of guide RNA in neurons, immune cells, and endothelial cells. Using these mice, we simultaneously modeled the dynamics of KRAS, p53, and LKB1, the top three significantly mutated genes in lung adenocarcinoma. Delivery of a single AAV vector in the lung generated loss-of-function mutations in p53 and Lkb1, as well as homology-directed repair-mediated KrasG12D mutations, leading to macroscopic tumors of adenocarcinoma pathology. Together, these results suggest that Cas9 mice empower a wide range of biological and disease modeling applications.

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