基因打靶技术:开启遗传学新纪元

基因打靶技术作为最有效的定向修饰小鼠基因的技术手段在揭示基因的生理功能、研究人类疾病的遗传机制以及寻找新的药物靶标的过程中发挥着重要的作用。近年来, 随着条件基因打靶技术的发展使基因失活可以限制在特定时段特定组织或细胞内。文章将主要介绍基因打靶技术的发展简史、近期进展以及在其他模式动物中的应用。     

A review of current large‐scale mouse knockout efforts

After the successful completion of the human genome project (HGP), biological research in the postgenome era urgently needs an efficient approach for functional analysis of genes. Utilization of knockout mouse models has been powerful for elucidating the function of genes as well as finding new therapeutic interventions for human diseases. Gene trapping and gene targeting are two independent techniques for making knockout mice from embryonic stem (ES) cells. Gene trapping is high‐throughput, random, and sequence‐tagged while gene targeting enables the knockout of specific genes. It has been about 20 years since the first gene targeting and gene trapping mice were generated. In recent years, new tools have emerged for both gene targeting and gene trapping, and organizations have been formed to knock out genes in the mouse genome using either of the two methods. The knockout mouse project (KOMP) and the international gene trap consortium (IGTC) were initiated to create convenient resources for scientific research worldwide and knock out all the mouse genes. Organizers of KOMP regard it as important as the HGP. Gene targeting methods have changed from conventional gene targeting to high‐throughput conditional gene targeting. The combined advantages of trapping and targeting elements are improving the gene trapping spectrum and gene targeting efficiency. As a newly‐developed insertional mutation system, transposons have some advantages over retrovirus in trapping genes. Emergence of the international knockout mouse consortium (IKMP) is the beginning of a global collaboration to systematically knock out all the genes in the mouse genome for functional genomic research. genesis 48:73–85, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Bridging the gap from frog research to human therapy: A tale of neural differentiation in Xenopus animal caps and human pluripotent cells

Over the last decade, much progress has been made toward an understanding of the mechanism of regulation of neural differentiation. In this article, following a brief overview of neural induction research, I would like to discuss the potential contribution of basic embryological research to the progress of human therapeutic development in the present and future, focusing on the medical application of in vitro differentiation of neural tissues. This kind of linkage between basic and medical research will probably be strengthened even more by the recent emergence of human induced pluripotent stem cells. Human pluripotent stem cells are powerful tools for bridging the gap from our accumulated knowledge of embryology to regenerative medicine, as well as to a wide spectrum of medical and pharmaceutical research and development. In this commentary, I describe these issues with a particular emphasis on the contributions made by Japanese scientists.     

Disruption of the adenosine deaminase (ADA) gene using a dicistronic promoterless construct: Production of an ADA-deficient homozygote ES cell line

In man, deficiency of ADA activity is associated with an autosomal recessive form of severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), a disease with profound defects of both cellular and humoral immunity. Current treatments of ADA deficient patients include bone marrow transplantation, enzyme replancement and somatic gene therapy. The mechanism of the selective immune cell pathogenesis in ADA-SCIDS is, however, still poorly understood. Thus, the generation of an ADA deficient mouse model will be of considerable benefit to understand better the pathophysiology of the disorder and to improve the gene therapy treatments.We have disrupted the adenosime deaminase (ADA) gene in embryonic stem cells using a new efficient promoter trap gene-targeting approach. To this end, a dicistronic targeting construct containing a promoterless IRES geo cassette was used. This cassette allows, via the internal ribosomal entry site (IRES), the direct cap-independent translation of the geo reporter gene which encodes a protein with both -galactosidase and neomycin activities. After indentification of targeted clones by Southern blot, successful inactivation of the ADA gene was first confirmed by producing, from our heterozygote clones, an homozygote cell line. This line shows no ADA activity as judged by zymogram analysis. Second, we have been able to detect in the targeted clones, a specific galactosidase activity using a sensitive fluorogenic assay. The targeted ES cell clones are currently being injected into blastocysts to create an ADA deficient mouse model.     

综述: 大鼠胚胎干细胞遗传操作技术的研究进展

大鼠胚胎干细胞(ES)的成功建立使大鼠的遗传学操作成为可能,运用同源重组原理改造ES细胞的基因,为建立时空特异性的基因敲除大鼠模型提供了基础.本文主要回顾了大鼠ES细胞的建立过程,总结了大鼠ES的培养、鉴定技术,分析了各种大鼠基因敲除技术的优劣势和未来前景.在干细胞研究蓬勃发展的背景下,作为最有效地定向修饰基因的技术手段,基于大鼠ES细胞的基因敲除技术将在揭示基因的生理功能、研究人类疾病的遗传机制以及寻找新药物靶标的过程中发挥更加重要的作用.     

含FLP“交换盒”结构的打靶载体构建及ES细胞打靶研究

利用小鼠HPRT基因组DNA片段和人工合成的含有FLP重组酶识别位点变异体FRT和F3RT序列的寡核苷酸 ,构建了针对小鼠HPRT基因位点的置换型打靶载体pSP HPRT Fneo F₃。经过限制酶酶切及部分测序鉴定其结构正确后 ,将线性化了的打靶载体以电穿孔法导入ES细胞内 ,经G418和 6 -TG双药筛选和分子鉴定 ,得到了 2个在HPRT位点整合有FLP重组酶“交换盒”F Neo F3结构的双交换重组ES细胞克隆 ,为建立基于FLP重组酶介导的盒式交换的高效、定点转基因体系创造了条件.     

四倍体补偿技术的建立及其应用

常规基因剔除小鼠的获得主要是利用ES细胞的全能性先获得嵌合体小鼠,再利用:ES细胞的生殖系传递能力,通过嵌合体与野生型小鼠的交配获得杂合子小鼠.而四倍体补偿技术则可绕过嵌合体小鼠阶段,直接获得基因修饰杂合子小鼠.利用电融合技术和Piezoelectric microinjecfion显微注射技术建立了四倍体补偿技术,小鼠四倍体胚胎的获得率(电融合率)为(93.01±l.37)%,经体外培养囊胚形成率为(82.49±2.08)%.通过显微注射方法将2种129品系小鼠来源的ES细胞(CJ7和SCR012)注射到四倍体囊胚腔中,获得了完全ES细胞来源的小鼠,ES鼠的获得率分别为2.7%和8.3%.经微卫星DNA检测,成体小鼠的10个被检测组织均为129小鼠来源的.同时,也利用基因修饰的ES细胞进行了研究,获得了2种基因修饰的完全ES细胞来源的杂合子小鼠,部分小鼠具有繁殖能力,经繁育已获得了纯合子,其中凝血因子Ⅷ基因敲除小鼠获得了预期的血友病小鼠表型.上述结果说明四倍体补偿技术可应用于基因修饰小鼠的制备.     

基因敲除小鼠技术的研究进展

基因敲除小鼠技术的建立和发展使得人们为研究基因的功能和寻找新的治疗人类疾病的靶点提供了强有力的支持。基因打靶和基因捕获是两种通过胚胎干细胞(Embryonicstemcell,ESC)构建基因敲除小鼠的技术。基因打靶通过同源重组替换内源基因从而敲除目的基因,而基因捕获则有启动子捕获和polyA捕获两种方法对目的基因进行敲除。近年来,有许多新的基因敲除技术不断被开发出来,包括Cre/loxP系统、CRISP/Cas9系统以及最新的ZFN技术和TAILEN技术,都有望取代传统基因敲除手段。文中简要阐述了如今新出现的几种基因敲除小鼠技术。     

基因打靶技术的研究进展

基因打靶在人类遗传病动物模型的构建,基因治疗和基因功能研究等方面都有重要的作用。本文综述了一些常用的基因打靶策略,并对这些技术的研究进展作一介绍。     

小鼠胚胎干细胞hprt基因的定位致变

利用DNA的同源重组原理,通过基因打靶技术,在小鼠胚胎干细胞(ES细胞）中将pMC1-neo导人hprt座位,实现了基因组内指定基因的定位致变．通过电穿孔导人质粒pRV4.0线性化D^A,分别用G418与6-TG筛选HPRT^-突变子．经抗性检验及DNA印迹分析,证明得到了一株预期的定位转化细胞,转化效率为1.32 x10^-8载体的非同源序列对定位致变的效率和整合方式没有影响,由于采取了有效的措施,所获HPRT^- ES细胞株仍维持了未分化和二倍体状态,保留了胚胎干细胞的特性．     

Wound-healing studies in transgenic and knockout mice

Injury to the skin initiates a cascade of events including inflammation, new tissue formation, and tissue remodeling, that finally lead to at least partial reconstruction of the original tissue. Historically, animal models of repair have taught us much about how this repair process is orchestrated and, over recent years, the use of genetically modified mice has helped define the roles of many key molecules. Aside from conventional knockout technology, many ingenious approaches have been adopted, allowing researchers to circumvent such problems as embryonic lethality, or to affect gene function in a tissue-or temporal-specific manner. Together, these studies provide us with a growing source of information describing, to date, the in vivo function of nearly 100 proteins in the context of wound repair. This article focuses on the studies in which genetically modified mouse models have helped elucidate the roles that many soluble mediators play during wound repair, encompassing the fibroblast growth factor (FGF) and transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) families and also data on cytokines and chemokines. Finally, we include a table summarizing all of the currently published data in this rapidly growing field. For a regularly updated web archive of studies, we have constructed a Compendium of Published Wound Healing Studies on Genetically Modified Mice which is available at http://icbxs.ethz.ch/members/grose/woundtransgenic/home.html.     

Chondrodysplasia of gene knockout mice for aggrecan and link protein

The proteoglycan aggregate of the cartilage is composed of aggrecan, link protein, and hyaluronan and forms a unique gel-like moiety that provides resistance to compression in joints and a foundational cartilage structure critical for growth plate formation. Aggrecan, a large chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan, is one of the major structural macromolecules in cartilage and binds both hyaluronan and link protein through its N-terminal domain G1. Link protein, a small glycoprotein, is homologous to the G1 domain of aggrecan. Mouse cartilage matrix deficiency (cmd) is caused by a functional null mutation of the aggrecan gene and is characterized by perinatal lethal dwarfism and craniofacial abnormalities. Link protein knockout mice show chondrodysplasia similar to but milder than cmd mice, suggesting a supporting role of link protein for the aggregate structure. Analysis of these mice revealed that the proteoglycan aggregate plays an important role in cartilage development and maintenance of cartilage tissue and may provide a clue to the identification of human genetic disorders caused by mutations in these genes. Published in 2003.     

Consequences of gene targeting procedures for behavioural responses and morphological development of newborn mice

In this study the effects of gene targeting procedures on the early behaviour and morphological development of the resulting offspring have been investigated. Six groups of mice, each having undergone a specific aspect of the biotechnological procedure, (including electroporation, microinjection and/or embryo culture) and one control group, were compared. Development of behaviour, morphological characteristics and body weight of the progeny were tested daily from birth to weaning (0–3 weeks) for all groups. No significant differences in behaviour or morphological development were observed. However, the occurrence of increased (perinatal) pup mortality and increased body weight in the procedural groups, indicates that during the production of gene targeted mice, some of the normal physiological and/or developmental processes can be affected. Therefore, gene targeting procedures should always be accompanied by careful monitoring of health and welfare of the resulting offspring.     

Epinephrine increases DNA synthesis via ERK1/2s through cAMP, Ca(2+)/PKC, and PI3K/Akt signaling pathways in mouse embryonic stem cells

Epinephrine is a catecholamine that plays important roles in regulating a wide variety of physiological systems by acting through the adrenergic receptors (ARs). The cellular responses to AR stimulation are mediated through various signaling pathways. Therefore, this study examined the effects of epinephrine on DNA synthesis and related signaling molecules in mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs). Epinephrine increased DNA synthesis in a dose- and time-dependent manner, as determined by the level of [(3)H]-thymidine incorporation. AR subtypes (alpha1(A), alpha2(A), beta1, beta2, and beta3) were expressed in mouse ESCs and their expression levels were increased by epinephrine. In this experiment, epinephrine increased cAMP levels, intracellular Ca(2+) concentration ([Ca(2+)](i)), and translocation of protein kinase C (PKC) from the cytosol to the membrane compartment. In addition, we observed Akt phosphorylation in response to epinephrine; this was stimulated by phosphorylation of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). Epinephrine also induced phosphorylation of ERK1/2 (p44/42 MAPKs), while inhibition of PKC or Akt blocked this phosphorylation. Epinephrine increased the mRNA levels of proto-oncogenes (c-fos, c-jun, c-myc), while inhibition of ERK1/2 decreased these mRNA levels. In experiments aimed at examining the involvement of cell cycle regulatory proteins, epinephrine increased the levels of cyclin E/cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2) and cyclin D1/cyclin-dependent kinase 4 (CDK4). In conclusion, epinephrine stimulates DNA synthesis via ERK1/2 through cAMP, Ca(2+)/PKC, and PI3K/Akt signaling pathways in mouse ESCs.