CRISPR/Cas9-mediated Generation of Human Endothelial Cell Knockout Models of CCM Disease

The CRISPR/Cas9 system is a versatile tool that enables targeted genome editing in various cell types, including hard-to-transfect endothelial cells. The required crRNA, tracrRNA, and Cas9 protein have mostly been introduced into endothelial cells by viral transduction or plasmid transfection so far. We here describe an effective lipofection-based delivery of pre-complexed crRNA:tracrRNA:Cas9 ribonucleoproteins into human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) and immortalized HUVEC (CI-huVEC). Complete inactivation of either CCM1, CCM2, or CCM3 in endothelial cells mimics the situation in cavernous lesions of CCM patients and thus represents a suitable model for future studies.