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Updated: Mar 19, 2026

Construction of CRISPR Plasmids and Detection of Knockout Efficiency in Mammalian Cells through a Dual Luciferase Reporter System
Published on: December 5, 2020
Knockout of Cytidine Monophospho-N-Acetylneuraminic Acid (CMP-NeuAc) Hydroxylase From Porcine Endothelial Cells by a
1Department of Surgery, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita, Osaka, Japan; and Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan.
Background:
We attempted to knock out the expression of Hanganutziu-Deicher (H-D) antigens through the use of a CRISPR (clustered regulatory interspaced short palindromic repeat)/Cas9 system for pig cytidine monophospho-N-acetylneuraminic acid hydroxylase (CMAH).
Methods:
Plasmids expressing hCas9 and sgRNA for pCMAH were prepared by ligating oligos into the BbsI site of pX330. The N-terminal and C-terminal EGFP coding regions overlapping 482 bp were PCR-amplified and placed under a ubiquitous CAG promoter. The approximately 400-bp genomic fragments containing the sgRNA target sequence of pCMAH were placed into the multi-cloning sites flanked by the EGFP fragments. The pCAG-EGxxFP-target was mixed with pX330 with/without the sgRNA sequences and then introduced into HEK293T cells.
Results:
Four oligos and primers, gSO1, gSO3, gSO4, and gSO8, were nominated from 8 candidates. Among them, gSO1 showed the best efficiency. Pig endothelial cells (PECs) from an α-Gal knockout pig were then used to examine the changes in the expression of the H-D antigen by the knockout of the CMAH genome by the pX330-gS01.
Conclusions:
Changes in the expression of the H-D antigen in the PECs with the CRISPR (gS01) were clear in comparison with those in the parental cells, on the basis of FACS analysis data. The expression of the H-D antigen can be knocked out by use of the CRISPR system for pCMAH, thus confirming that this system is a very convenient system for producing knockout pigs.

