Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 3, 2025
Generation of Brown Fat-Specific Knockout Mice Using a Combined Cre-LoxP, CRISPR-Cas9, and Adeno-Associated Virus Single-Guide RNA System
Published on: March 24, 2023
Characterization of a Novel CYP1A2 Knockout Rat Model Constructed by CRISPR/Cas9
Dongyi Sun1, Jian Lu1, Yuanjin Zhang1
1Changning Maternity and Infant Health Hospital (D.S., J.Lu, Y.Z., J.Liu, B.Y., Y.G., X.W.), Shanghai Key Laboratory of Regulatory Biology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences and School of Life Sciences (D.S, J.Lu, Y.Z., J.Liu, X.W.), East China Normal University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China and Department of Cardiology, Central Hospital of Shanghai Putuo District (Z.L.), Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.
Abstract:
CYP1A2, as one of the most important cytochrome P450 isoforms, is involved in the biotransformation of many important endogenous and exogenous substances. CYP1A2 also plays an important role in the development of many diseases because it is involved in the biotransformation of precancerous substances and poisons. Although the generation of Cyp1a2 knockout (KO) mouse model has been reported, there are still no relevant rat models for the study of CYP1A2-mediated pharmacokinetics and diseases. In this report, CYP1A2 KO rat model was established successfully by CRISPR/Cas9 without any detectable off-target effect. Compared with wild-type rats, this model showed a loss of CYP1A2 protein expression in the liver. The results of pharmacokinetics in vivo and incubation in vitro of specific substrates of CYP1A2 confirmed the lack of function of CYP1A2 in KO rats. In further studies of potential compensatory effects, we found that CYP1A1 was significantly upregulated, and CYP2E1, CYP3A2, and liver X receptor β were downregulated in KO rats. In addition, CYP1A2 KO rats exhibited a significant increase in serum cholesterol and free testosterone accompanied by mild liver damage and lipid deposition, suggesting that CYP1A2 deficiency affects lipid metabolism and liver function to a certain extent. In summary, we successfully constructed the CYP1A2 KO rat model, which provides a useful tool for studying the metabolic function and physiologic function of CYP1A2. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Human CYP1A2 not only metabolizes clinical drugs and pollutants but also mediates the biotransformation of endogenous substances and plays an important role in the development of many diseases. However, there are no relevant CYP1A2 rat models for the research of pharmacokinetics and diseases. This study successfully established CYP1A2 knockout rat model by using CRISPR/Cas9. This rat model provides a powerful tool to study the function of CYP1A2 in drug metabolism and diseases.
