CRISPR/Cas9介导的外源基因靶向插入鸡EAV-HP基因组

本研究旨在通过CRISPR/Cas9介导外源基因靶向插入鸡EAV-HP基因组。首先设计特异性引物并扩增鸡内源性病毒(EAV-HP)左右同源臂和增强型绿色荧光蛋白(eGFP)基因表达盒,然后通过重叠延伸PCR技术将两个同源臂DNA连接至eGFP表达盒两侧,获得全长DNA片段LER,并克隆至pMD19-T载体,获得携带eGFP基因的供体载体pMDT-LER。随后在HEK293T细胞中验证供体载体pMDT-LER能成功表达eGFP后,将EAV-HP打靶载体和供体载体共转染至DF-1细胞,观察绿色荧光阳性细胞,提取细胞基因组,PCR检测外源基因eGFP成功整合至鸡基因组EAV-HP位点。最后,将转基因细胞DF-1传至第7代,用PCR和Western blotting检测eGFP在转基因细胞中稳定表达。文中初步验证外源基因eGFP能整合至鸡EAV-HP位点并稳定表达,为转基因鸡的研究提供新整合位点。     

利用体细胞核移植技术制作人胰岛素原转基因牛 （英文）

通过体细胞核移植技术制作了人胰岛素原转基因牛。在CMV启动子指导下以内部核糖体进入位点序列(IRES)连接的新霉素抗性基因和绿色荧光蛋白基因组成了双重标记基因的筛选系统,用于转基因细胞的富集以及细胞和植入前胚胎的筛选。转基因通过电穿孔的方法(900V/cm,5ms)转入体外培养的牛胎儿成纤维细胞,基因转染细胞在添加G418 (800μg/mL)的培养基中培养10天以富集转基因细胞。选择表达绿色荧光蛋白的转基因细胞作为核供体进行体细胞核移植,重构胚经体外培养至囊胚阶段,选择表达绿色荧光蛋白的囊胚进行胚胎移植。为比较基因转染以及供体细胞所处周期对转基因细胞核移植胚胎发育的影响,用作核移植供体的转基因细胞或非转基因细胞先饥饿培养2—4天(0.5 ?S) ,然后恢复培养(10?S) 10 h使细胞同步化于G1期,以正常培养的细胞作为对照进行核移植。结果表明,转基因细胞作为核供体得到的核移植胚胎的体外囊胚发育率低于以非转基因细胞为核供体的对照组(23.2% VS 35.2 %,P<0.05) ;转基因细胞周期同步化处理与否对其克隆胚囊胚发育率无显著影响(23.2% VS 18.9 %,P>0.05)。胚胎移植后2个月直肠检查发现7头受体牛(每头移植2—4枚胚胎)中有一头妊娠,并最终发育足月产下一头小牛。聚合酶链反应(PCR)检测和DNA测序分析表明其为转人胰岛素原基因的转基因克隆牛。     

脉冲电泳不同参数对介导GFP基因转化玉米种胚效果的研究

利用脉冲电泳介导绿色荧光蛋白(GFP)基因导入玉米种胚;以GFP基因在种胚中瞬时表达作为外源基因导人种胚细胞的标记,分析了外源．DNA浓度、电泳时间、电压、电流转换时间等脉冲电泳转化参数对种胚发芽率和外源基因导入率的影响。结果表明：脉冲电泳时间对种胚发芽率和外源GFP基因导入率影响最大;通过脉冲电泳可将外源基因导入胚芽细胞,其GFP基因导人种子的频率与各电泳参数均呈二次曲线关系,300μg／ml外源DNA浓度、120min电泳时间、5V电压、2s电流转换时间可作为脉冲电泳介导玉米种胚转化较适宜的参数。     

转基因动物及其在医学中的应用

转基因动物是通过将外源目的基因导入受精卵或早期胚胎细胞中,使其稳定地整合到受体的基因组中,并得到表达的动物。这一技术已用来在哺乳动物的乳汁中生产贵重的治疗用蛋白,生产供人类移植用的器官,制造人类跗疾病的动物模型。其前景十分广阔。     

利用改进的手工克隆技术生产转GFP基因猪克隆胚胎

通过体细胞核移植(Somatic cell nuclear transfer,SCNT)培育转基因动物新个体是当前被广泛使用的技术之一,但其生产成本高和转基因囊胚形成率低在很大程度上制约了该技术的应用。文章报告对该技术的一些改进以提高其成功率并降低成本。首先将增强型绿色荧光基因(EGFP)导入猪胎儿成纤维细胞中,通过荧光观察EGFP的表达来筛选适合做细胞核移植的体细胞。这样避免了外源EGFP基因虽已整合至猪基因组但不表达的情况,保证供体细胞100%是表达目标蛋白(绿色荧光蛋白)的细胞;然后利用新一代体细胞核移植技术——手工克隆技术(Handmade cloning,HMC)将供体细胞与卵母细胞融合生产胚胎。共收集了4个批次378个肉用家猪的卵母细胞,经体外培养成熟后手工去核得到266个去核卵母细胞,与EGFP细胞融合后获得127个重构胚胎,将重构胚胎体外培养到144 h,得到转基因囊胚65个,平均囊胚率为52.1±8.3%。与传统SCNT相比,HMC不仅操作简便,而且能大幅提高核移植细胞的囊胚率。更为重要的是,改进的手工克隆技术摆脱了昂贵的显微操作仪,为产业化生产转基因动物提供了新的实用基础。     

利用体细胞核移植技术制作人胰岛素原转基因牛

通过体细胞核移植技术制作了人胰岛素原转基因牛。在CMV启动子指导下以内部核糖体进入位点序列（IRES）连接的新霉素抗性基因和绿色荧光蛋白基因组成了双重标记基因的筛选系统，用于转基因细胞的富集以及细胞和植入前胚胎的筛选。转基因通过电穿孔的方法（900 V/cm, 5 ms）转入体外培养的牛胎儿成纤维细胞，基因转染细胞在添加G418(800 μg/mL) 的培养基中培养10天以富集转基因细胞。选择表达绿色荧光蛋白的转基因细胞作为核供体进行体细胞核移植，重构胚经体外培养至囊胚阶段，选择表达绿色荧光蛋白的囊胚进行胚胎移植。为比较基因转染以及供体细胞所处周期对转基因细胞核移植胚胎发育的影响，用作核移植供体的转基因细胞或非转基因细胞先饥饿培养2—4天(0.5% FBS)，然后恢复培养(10% FBS)10?h使细胞同步化于G1期，以正常培养的细胞作为对照进行核移植。 结果表明，转基因细胞作为核供体得到的核移植胚胎的体外囊胚发育率低于以非转基因细胞为核供体的对照组(23.2% VS 35.2%, P<0.05)；转基因细胞周期同步化处理与否对其克隆胚囊胚发育率无显著影响（23.2% VS 18.9%, P>0.05）。胚胎移植后2个月直肠检查发现7头受体牛（每头移植2—4枚胚胎）中有一头妊娠，并最终发育足月产下一头小牛。聚合酶链反应（PCR）检测和DNA测序分析表明其为转人胰岛素原基因的转基因克隆牛。     

鸡蛋开窗法导入供体胚盘细胞对家鸡胚胎发育的影响研究

通过4批孵化实验,研究鸡蛋开窗法注射供体胚盘细胞对受体鸡胚发育及孵化率的影响。GLM方差分析表明,开窗处理极显著降低整个孵化期（21d)的活胚比例（P＜0．01）,至21日龄出壳时,处理组的孵化率为.8%-6.0%。导入供体胚盘细胞对受体鸡胚的发育仅为阶段性影响,表现在显著性孵化第8日龄左右的活胚比例（P＜0.05)。而对后期发育的影响不显著（P＞0．05）。因经,鸡蛋开窗处理是降低受体胚胎成活率和孵化率的主要原因,如何降低开窗处理对受体胚胎的应激和不利影响则是今后研究的一个课题。     

体细胞核移植生产绵羊转hALR基因囊胚

扩增人肝细胞再生增强因子(human augmenter of liver regeneration,ALR)基因,利用质粒pIRES2-EGFP 构建新霉素(Neo)、增强绿色荧光蛋白(enhanced green fluorescence protein,EGFP)双标记基因且EGFP和ALR基因为双顺反子的真核表达载体.LipofectAMINETM介导其转染体外培养的绵羊胎儿成纤维细胞(sheep fetal fibroblast cells,sFFCs);经G418筛选转基因细胞;激光共聚焦显微镜挑选绿色荧光单克隆细胞.PCR、RT-PCR和免疫组织化学方法进一步检测ALR基因及其表达;稳定表达外源基因的sFFCs作供体,移入去核的绵羊卵母细胞中,进行体细胞核移植.通过激光共聚焦显微镜和ALR抗体检测EGFP、ALR基因在胚胎水平上的表达,其结果表明:由IRES连接的EGFP和ALR基因可在绵羊胎儿成纤维细胞内同时表达,由此细胞核移植产生的转基因胚胎在发育的各阶段均可见绿色荧光;囊胚中所有细胞表达EGFP基因;发绿色荧光的胚胎中ALR基因同时存在.因此,由IRES连接标记基因和目的基因,以标记基因指示目的基因的表达,可简化检测目的基因的繁琐手段;用筛选的转基因早期胚胎进行移植,可提高制备转基因动物的效率.     

原生殖细胞与转基因家禽

鸟类的原生殖细胞来自于上胚层胚盘透明区的中央盘处,分离出的PGCs可以被转至受体胚中,可以获得由供体胚PGCs和受体胚PGCs组成的生殖系嵌合体。在这一过程中,如果将外源基因转入供体PGCs,受体胚后代则成为转基因鸟类。利用禽类PGCs作为转基因的载体,来生产嵌合体胚胎和子代为目前研究禽类转基因的一种较为理想的方法。     

慢病毒载体导入种蛋内鸡胚技术研究

种蛋内鸡胚含有潜在的胚胎干细胞(BCs)或原生殖细胞(PGCs),是目前主要的转基因鸡研究方法。采用绿色荧光蛋白(GFP)基因的pLenti6/v5-DEST-GFP慢病毒表达载体,白来航鸡与伊萨鸡种蛋,结合种蛋赤道面开窗专利技术,对含这两种细胞胚的转基因技术进行了比较研究:转染白来航鸡囊胚,孵化13天时,GFP基因的PCR检出率为64.7%,孵化率极低;转染孵化72h伊萨鸡胚血液循环中PGCs,实验蛋孵化率为35.0%,在出壳后死亡的3只小鸡肝脏中,GFP基因的PCR检出率为100%,存活的4只鸡中有3只在12月龄的血液样品中,经PCR扩增出了GFP基因;转染孵化72～79h白来航鸡胚PGCs,7批次实验的平均孵化率为21.1%,能在赤道面窗口注射胚的种蛋比率,以73～77h胚龄的最高,为75.0%～92.9%,注射病毒组出壳雏鸡血液DNA中,GFP基因PCR检出率为44.4%。两种方法比较,PGCs方法在实验蛋孵化率、胚定位在赤道面窗口率等方面有较强优势。因此为种蛋内胚细胞的转基因鸡技术研究提供了系统、可操作性强的方法。     

Robust and ubiquitous GFP expression in a single generation of chicken embryos using the avian retroviral vector,RCASBP

Functional genomics in avian models has lagged behind that of mammals, and the production of transgenic birds has proven to be challenging and time-consuming. All current methods rely upon breeding chimeric birds through at least one generation. Here, we report a rapid method for the ubiquitous expression of GFP in chicken embryos in a single generation (G-0), using the avian retroviral vector, Replication-Competent Avian sarcoma-leukosis virus, with a Splice acceptor, Bryan RSV Pol (RCASBP). High-titre RCASBP retrovirus carrying eGFP was injected into unincubated (stage X) blastoderms in ovo. This resulted in stable and widespread expression of eGFP throughout development in a very high proportion of embryos. Transgenic tissues were identified by fluorescence and immunohistochemistry. These results indicate that chicken blastodermal cells are permissive for infection by the RCASBP virus. This system represents a rapid and efficient method of producing global gene expression in the chicken embryo. The method can be used to generate avian cells with a stable genetic marker, or to induce global expression of a gene of choice. Interestingly, in day 8.5 embryos, somatic cells the embryonic gonads were predominantly GFP positive but primordial germ cells were GFP negative, indicating viral silencing in the embryonic germline. This dichotomy in the gonads allows the isolation or enrichment of the germ cells through negative selection during embryonic stages. This transgenic chicken model is of value in developmental studies, and for the isolation and study of avian primordial germ cells.     

Genetic manipulation of an exogenous non-immunoglobulin protein by gene conversion machinery in a chicken B cell line

During culture, a chicken B cell line DT40 spontaneously mutates immunoglobulin (Ig) genes by gene conversion, which involves activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID)-dependent homologous recombination of the variable (V) region gene with upstream pseudo-V genes. To explore whether this mutation mechanism can target exogenous non-Ig genes, we generated DT40 lines that bears a gene conversion substrate comprising the green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene as a donor and the blue fluorescent protein (BFP) gene as an acceptor. A few percent of the initially BFP-expressing cells converted their fluorescence from blue to green after culture for 2–3 weeks when the substrate construct was integrated in the Ig light chain locus, but not in the ovalbumin locus. This was the result of AID-dependent and the GFP gene-templated gene conversion of the BFP gene, thereby leading to the introduction of various sizes of GFP-derived gene segment into the BFP gene. Thus, G/B construct may be used to visualize gene conversion events. After switching off AID expression in DT40 cells, the mutant clones were isolated stably and maintained with their mutations being fixed. Thus, the gene conversion machinery in DT40 cells will be a useful means to engineer non-Ig proteins by a type of DNA shuffling.     

Expression of GFP in nuclear transplants generated by transplantation of embryonic cell nuclei from GFP-transgenic fish into nonenucleated eggs of medaka, Oryzias latipes

In order to investigate whether foreign genes can be used as genetic markers of donor nuclei in fish nuclear transplantation, expression of the GFP gene derived from donor nuclei was examined in nuclear transplants in medaka (Oryzias latipes). Embryonic nuclei were obtained from blastula embryos produced by crossing of transgenic fish of the wild-type strain heterozygous for the GFP gene with nontransgenic ones or by mutual crossing between transgenic fish. The GFP gene was driven by the promoter of the medaka elongation factor gene, EF-1alpha-A, which is known to induce GFP expression in many tissues except for the muscle in the transgenic fish. The nuclei were transplanted into nonenucleated unfertilized eggs of the orange-red strain. Adult nuclear transplants were successfully obtained at the rate of about 2% of the operated eggs. They were triploid and had no reproductive potential. The GFP gene was expressed in embryos, fry, and adults of nuclear transplants in a pattern similar to that in the transgenic fish. These results indicate that GFP is useful as a foreign genetic marker of donor nuclei in fish nuclear transplantation.     

Mammalian Pol III Promoter H1 can Transcribe shRNA Inducing RNAi in Chicken Cells

Double-stranded RNA-mediated interference (RNAi) has recently emerged as a powerful reverse genetic tool to silence gene expression in multiple organisms. RNAi based on DNA vector is not sufficiently established in chicken species. The present study was performed to evaluate RNAi induced by shRNA transcribed from mammalian Pol III promoter H1 in the chicken cells by using a dual fluorescence reporter assay, a plasmid encoding GFP and a plasmid encoding RFP. The evaluation of RNAi efficiency was performed in two kinds of chicken cell type: primary CEF cells and chicken DT-40 cells by lipofection. GFP- and RFP-expressing cells were observed under fluorescent microscopy, and their mRNAs content were analyzed by quantitative RT-PCR. The intensity of the green fluorescence generated by GFP was greatly suppressed by human H1 promoter transcribed GFP-shRNA. Quantitative RT-PCR analysis showed that normalized GFP mRNA expression was reduced to 37 and 32 in primary CEF and DT-40 cells, respectively. In contrast to GFP, the intensity of the red fluorescence generated by RFP protein and the RFP mRNA levels remained unchanged. Consequently, it was concluded that the RNAi induced by shRNA transcribed from mammalian Pol III promoter H1 is applicable to suppress the gene expression specifically and efficiently in chicken cells. Jing Yuan and Xiaobo Wang - These authors contributed equally to this work.     

鸡囊胚细胞嵌合体制作技术研究及其应用前景

家鸡X期囊胚细胞(BCs)嵌合体技术,既是利用转基因技术进行家鸡品种改良和凭借转基因家鸡生物反应器生产医用蛋白等研究领域的关键技术,也是利用BCs冻存家鸡和珍稀鸟类双亲种质资源实现鸟类品种资源多样性保护、利用和挽救珍稀濒危鸟类的重要途径。从家鸡BCs嵌合体制作技术的基本过程：(1) 羽色嵌合体家鸡模型的建立;(2) 囊胚的分离与消化;(3) 受体种蛋的致弱处理;(4) 受体种蛋的开窗（包括部位、方法及封口技术等）;(5) 供体细胞导入受体胚（显微注射或简易操作）;(6) 孵化（常规方法或换壳培养）等几个方面的研究进展、目前存在的问题以及研究方向等进行了系统阐述。Abstract: The technology of producing chicken chimeras using blastodermal cells is very important not only in the field of transgenic chicken bioreactor but also in searching for efficient ways to conserve avian genetic resource. The basic processes for producing chicken chimeras consist of: (1) Setting up the color model; (2) Separating and dissociating of donor embryos; (3) Compromising of the recipient embryos; (4) Windowing and recovering the recipient eggs; (5) Cells injecting; (6) Method of hatching. The progress, obstacles and prospects of producing chicken chimeras via BCs were discussed in this paper.     

Neither HMG-14a nor HMG-17 gene function is required for growth of chicken DT40 cells or maintenance of DNaseI-hypersensitive sites.

HMG-14 and HMG-17 form a family of ubiquitous non-histone chromosomal proteins and have been reported to bind preferentially to regions of active chromatin structure. Our previous studies demonstrated that the chicken HMG-17 gene is dispensable for normal growth of the DT40 chicken lymphoid cell line. Here it is shown that the major chicken HMG-14 gene,HMG-14a, is also dispensable and, moreover, that DT40-derived cells lacking both HMG-17 and HMG-14a proteins show no obvious change in phenotype with respect to the parental DT40 cells. Furthermore, no compensatory changes in HMG-14b or histone protein levels were observed in cells lacking both HMG-14a and HMG-17, nor were any alterations detected in such hallmarks of chromatin structure as DNaseI-hypersensitive sites or micrococcal nuclease digestion patterns. It is concluded that the HMG-14a and HMG-17 proteins are not required for normal growth of avian cell linesin vitro, nor for the maintenance of DNaseI-hypersensitive sites in chromatin.     

Harnessing Gene Conversion in Chicken B Cells to Create a Human Antibody Sequence Repertoire

Transgenic chickens expressing human sequence antibodies would be a powerful tool to access human targets and epitopes that have been intractable in mammalian hosts because of tolerance to conserved proteins. To foster the development of the chicken platform, it is beneficial to validate transgene constructs using a rapid, cell culture-based method prior to generating fully transgenic birds. We describe a method for the expression of human immunoglobulin variable regions in the chicken DT40 B cell line and the further diversification of these genes by gene conversion. Chicken V_L and V_H loci were knocked out in DT40 cells and replaced with human V_K and V_H genes. To achieve gene conversion of human genes in chicken B cells, synthetic human pseudogene arrays were inserted upstream of the functional human V_K and V_H regions. Proper expression of chimeric IgM comprised of human variable regions and chicken constant regions is shown. Most importantly, sequencing of DT40 genetic variants confirmed that the human pseudogene arrays contributed to the generation of diversity through gene conversion at both the Igl and Igh loci. These data show that engineered pseudogene arrays produce a diverse pool of human antibody sequences in chicken B cells, and suggest that these constructs will express a functional repertoire of chimeric antibodies in transgenic chickens.     

Reversible switching of immunoglobulin hypermutation machinery in a chicken B cell line

A chicken B lymphoma line, DT40, hypermutates immunoglobulin (Ig) genes spontaneously during culture. Thus, cultured DT 40 cells constitute a useful Ig library for screening antibodies (Abs) in vitro. To fix desirable Ig mutants by stopping hypermutation or to resume mutation for further improvement of Ab affinity, activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID), a key enzyme responsible for the Ig mutation machinery, must be switched on or off. To this end, we generated a DT40 line whose one AID allele was disrupted, and the other allele was replaced by the loxP-flanked AID construct. In this engineered cell line designated as DT40-SW, AID expression could be switched reversibly by tamoxifen-regulated Cre recombinase. Devices were also introduced to discriminate between the "AID-ON" and the "AID-OFF" cells by GFP expression and puromycin resistance, respectively. Starting from a single DT40-SW cell, Ig gene repertoire was efficiently diversified during culture only when AID expression was on.