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Generation of Defined Genomic Modifications Using CRISPR-CAS9 in Human Pluripotent Stem Cells
Published on: September 25, 2019
An Ultrasensitive Calcium Reporter System via CRISPR-Cas9-Mediated Genome Editing in Human Pluripotent Stem Cells
Yuqian Jiang1, Yuxiao Zhou2, Xiaoping Bao3
1Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA; The Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
Abstract:
Genetically encoded calcium indicator (GCaMP) proteins have been reported for imaging cardiac cell activity based on intracellular calcium transients. To bring human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC)-derived cardiomyocytes (CMs) to the clinic, it is critical to evaluate the functionality of CMs. Here, we show that GCaMP6s-expressing hPSCs can be generated and used for CM characterization. By leveraging CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing tools, we generated a knockin cell line that constitutively expresses GCaMP6s, an ultrasensitive calcium sensor protein. We further showed that this clone maintained pluripotency and cardiac differentiation potential. These knockin hPSC-derived CMs exhibited sensitive fluorescence fluctuation with spontaneous contraction. We then compared the fluorescence signal with mechanical contraction signal. The knockin hPSC-derived CMs also showed sensitive response to isoprenaline treatment in a concentration-dependent manner. Therefore, the GCaMP6s knockin hPSC line provides a non-invasive, sensitive, and economic approach to characterize the functionality of hPSC-derived CMs.
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