Development of a Multipurpose GATEWAY-Based Lentiviral Tetracycline-Regulated Conditional RNAi System (GLTR)

RNA interference (RNAi) has become an essential technology for functional gene analysis. Its success, however, depends on the effective expression of RNAi-inducing small double-stranded interfering RNA molecules (siRNAs) in target cells. In many cell types, RNAi can be achieved by transfection of chemically synthesised siRNAs, which results in transient knockdown of protein expression. Expression of double-stranded short hairpin RNA (shRNA) provides another means to induce RNAi in cells that are hard to transfect. To facilitate the generation of stable, conditional RNAi cell lines, we have developed novel one- and two-component vector GATEWAY-compatible lentiviral tetracycline-regulated RNAi (GLTR) systems. The combination of a modified RNA-polymerase-III-dependent H1 RNA promoter (designated ‘THT’) for conditional shRNA expression with different lentiviral delivery vectors allows (1) the use of fluorescent proteins for colour-coded combinatorial RNAi or for monitoring RNAi induction (pGLTR-FP), (2) selection of transduced cells (pGLTR-S), and (3) the generation of conditional cell lines using a one vector system (pGLTR-X). All three systems were found to be suitable for the analysis of essential genes, such as CDC27, a component of the mitotic ubiquitin ligase APC/C, in cell lines and primary human cells.     

AQUA Cloning: A Versatile and Simple Enzyme-Free Cloning Approach

Assembly cloning is increasingly replacing conventional restriction enzyme and DNA-ligase-dependent cloning methods for reasons of efficiency and performance. Here, we describe AQUA (advanced quick assembly), a simple and versatile seamless assembly cloning approach. We demonstrate the applicability and versatility of AQUA Cloning in selected proof-of-principle applications including targeted insertion-, deletion- and site-directed point-mutagenesis, and combinatorial cloning. Furthermore, we show the one pot de novo assembly of multiple DNA fragments into a single circular plasmid encoding a complex light- and chemically-regulated Boolean A NIMPLY B logic operation. AQUA Cloning harnesses intrinsic in vivo processing of linear DNA fragments with short regions of homology of 16 to 32 bp mediated by Escherichia coli. It does not require any kits, enzymes or preparations of reagents and is the simplest assembly cloning protocol to date.     

The Linker for Activation of T Cells (LAT) Signaling Hub: From Signaling Complexes to Microclusters

Since the cloning of the critical adapter, LAT (linker for activation of T cells), more than 15 years ago, a combination of multiple scientific approaches and techniques continues to provide valuable insights into the formation, composition, regulation, dynamics, and function of LAT-based signaling complexes. In this review, we will summarize current views on the assembly of signaling complexes nucleated by LAT. LAT forms numerous interactions with other signaling molecules, leading to cooperativity in the system. Furthermore, oligomerization of LAT by adapter complexes enhances intracellular signaling and is physiologically relevant. These results will be related to data from super-resolution microscopy studies that have revealed the smallest LAT-based signaling units and nanostructure.     

A DREaMR system to simplify combining mutations with rescue transgenes in Aedes aegypti

In most experimental animals, it is challenging to combine mutations and rescue transgenes and to use bipartite systems to assess gene expression. To circumvent the difficulties in combining multiple genetic elements, we developed the DREaMR (Drug-on, REporter, Mutant, Rescue) system. Using Drosophila white as the initial model, we demonstrated that introduction of a single insertion by CRISPR/Cas9 created a null mutation, a tagged rescue construct, which could be induced with doxycycline, and which allowed assessment of protein expression. To create a DREaMR in an organism in which combining multiple genetic elements is more problematic than in Drosophila, we tested the mosquito, Aedes aegypti—the insect vector for dengue, yellow fever, Zika, and other viral diseases. We generated a DREaMR allele in the kh gene, which permitted us to induce expression of the rescue construct, and detect expression of Kh. Thus, this system avoids the need to perform genetic crosses to introduce an inducible rescue transgene in a mutant background, or to combine driver and reporter lines to examine expression of the targeted protein. We propose that DREaMR provides a system that can be applied to additional mosquito vectors as well as other organisms in which CRISPR/Cas9 is effective.     

Human ISCA1 Interacts with IOP1/NARFL and Functions in Both Cytosolic and Mitochondrial Iron-Sulfur Protein Biogenesis

Iron-sulfur proteins play an essential role in many biologic processes. Hence, understanding their assembly is an important goal. In Escherichia coli, the protein IscA is a product of the isc (iron-sulfur cluster) operon and functions in the iron-sulfur cluster assembly pathway in this organism. IscA is conserved in evolution, but its function in mammalian cells is not known. Here, we provide evidence for a role for a human homologue of IscA, named IscA1, in iron-sulfur protein biogenesis. We observe that small interfering RNA knockdown of IscA1 in HeLa cells leads to decreased activity of two mitochondrial iron-sulfur enzymes, succinate dehydrogenase and mitochondrial aconitase, as well as a cytosolic iron-sulfur enzyme, cytosolic aconitase. IscA1 is observed both in cytosolic and mitochondrial fractions. We find that IscA1 interacts with IOP1 (iron-only hydrogenase-like protein 1)/NARFL (nuclear prelamin A recognition factor-like), a cytosolic protein that plays a role in the cytosolic iron-sulfur protein assembly pathway. We therefore propose that human IscA1 plays an important role in both mitochondrial and cytosolic iron-sulfur cluster biogenesis, and a notable component of the latter is the interaction between IscA1 and IOP1.     

Bioengineered Chinese Hamster Ovary Cells with Golgi-targeted 3-O-Sulfotransferase-1 Biosynthesize Heparan Sulfate with an Antithrombin-binding Site

HS3st1 (heparan sulfate 3-O-sulfotransferase isoform-1) is a critical enzyme involved in the biosynthesis of the antithrombin III (AT)-binding site in the biopharmaceutical drug heparin. Heparin is a highly sulfated glycosaminoglycan that shares a common biosynthetic pathway with heparan sulfate (HS). Although only granulated cells, such as mast cells, biosynthesize heparin, all animal cells are capable of biosynthesizing HS. As part of an effort to bioengineer CHO cells to produce heparin, we previously showed that the introduction of both HS3st1 and NDST2 (N-deacetylase/N-sulfotransferase isoform-2) afforded HS with a very low level of anticoagulant activity. This study demonstrated that untargeted HS3st1 is broadly distributed throughout CHO cells and forms no detectable AT-binding sites, whereas Golgi-targeted HS3st1 localizes in the Golgi and results in the formation of a single type of AT-binding site and high anti-factor Xa activity (137 ± 36 units/mg). Moreover, stable overexpression of HS3st1 also results in up-regulation of 2-O-, 6-O-, and N-sulfo group-containing disaccharides, further emphasizing a previously unknown concerted interplay between the HS biosynthetic enzymes and suggesting the need to control the expression level of all of the biosynthetic enzymes to produce heparin in CHO cells.     

Repeatable Construction Method for Engineered Zinc Finger Nuclease Based on Overlap Extension PCR and TA-Cloning

Zinc finger nuclease (ZFN) is a useful tool for endogenous site-directed genome modification. The development of an easier, less expensive and repeatedly usable construction method for various sequences of ZFNs should contribute to the further widespread use of this technology. Here, we establish a novel construction method for ZFNs. Zinc finger (ZF) fragments were synthesized by PCR using short primers coding DNA recognition helices of the ZF domain. DNA-binding domains composed of 4 to 6 ZFs were synthesized by overlap extension PCR of these PCR products, and the DNA-binding domains were joined with a nuclease vector by TA cloning. The short primers coding unique DNA recognition helices can be used repeatedly for other ZFN constructions. By using this novel OLTA (OverLap extension PCR and TA-cloning) method, arbitrary ZFN vectors were synthesized within 3 days, from the designing to the sequencing of the vector. Four different ZFN sets synthesized by OLTA showed nuclease activities at endogenous target loci. Genetically modified mice were successfully generated using ZFN vectors constructed by OLTA. This method, which enables the construction of intended ZFNs repeatedly and inexpensively in a short period of time, should contribute to the advancement of ZFN technology.     

A protocol for custom CRISPR Cas9 donor vector construction to truncate genes in mammalian cells using pcDNA3 backbone

Background

Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR) RNA-guided adaptive immune systems are found in prokaryotes to defend cells from foreign DNA. CRISPR Cas9 systems have been modified and employed as genome editing tools in wide ranging organisms. Here, we provide a detailed protocol to truncate genes in mammalian cells using CRISPR Cas9 editing. We describe custom donor vector construction using Gibson assembly with the commonly utilized pcDNA3 vector as the backbone.

Results

We describe a step-by-step method to truncate genes of interest in mammalian cell lines using custom-made donor vectors. Our method employs 2 guide RNAs, mutant Cas9D10A nickase (Cas9?=?CRISPR associated sequence 9), and a custom-made donor vector for homologous recombination to precisely truncate a gene of interest with a selectable neomycin resistance cassette (NPTII: Neomycin Phosphotransferase II). We provide a detailed protocol on how to design and construct a custom donor vector using Gibson assembly (and the commonly utilized pcDNA3 vector as the backbone) allowing researchers to obtain specific gene modifications of interest (gene truncation, gene deletion, epitope tagging or knock-in mutation). Selection of mutants in mammalian cell lines with G418 (Geneticin) combined with several screening methods: western blot analysis, polymerase chain reaction, and Sanger sequencing resulted in streamlined mutant isolation. Proof of principle experiments were done in several mammalian cell lines.

Conclusions

Here we describe a detailed protocol to employ CRISPR Cas9 genome editing to truncate genes of interest using the commonly employed expression vector pcDNA3 as the backbone for the donor vector. Providing a detailed protocol for custom donor vector design and construction will enable researchers to develop unique genome editing tools. To date, detailed protocols for CRISPR Cas9 custom donor vector construction are limited (Lee et al. in Sci Rep 5:8572, 2015; Ma et al. in Sci Rep 4:4489, 2014). Custom donor vectors are commercially available, but can be expensive. Our goal is to share this protocol to aid researchers in performing genetic investigations that require custom donor vectors for specialized applications (specific gene truncations, knock-in mutations, and epitope tagging applications).

     

Boosting riboswitch efficiency by RNA amplification

Riboswitches are RNA sensors that regulate gene expression in response to binding of small molecules. Although they conceptually represent simple on/off switches and, therefore, hold great promise for biotechnology and future synthetic biology applications, the induction of gene expression by natural riboswitches after ligand addition or removal is often only moderate and, consequently, the achievable expression levels are not very high. Here, we have designed an RNA amplification-based system that strongly improves the efficiency of riboswitches. We have successfully implemented the method in a biological system for which currently no efficient endogenous tools for inducible (trans)gene expression are available: the chloroplasts of higher plants. We further show that an HIV antigen whose constitutive expression from the chloroplast genome is deleterious to the plant can be inducibly expressed under the control of the RNA amplification-enhanced riboswitch (RAmpER) without causing a mutant phenotype, demonstrating the potential of the method for the production of proteins and metabolites that are toxic to the host cell.     

A Highlights from MBoC Selection: CARMIL2 is a novel molecular connection between vimentin and actin essential for cell migration and invadopodia formation

Cancer cell migration requires the regulation of actin networks at protrusions associated with invadopodia and other leading edges. Carcinomas become invasive after undergoing an epithelial–mesenchymal transition characterized by the appearance of vimentin filaments. While vimentin expression correlates with cell migration, the molecular connections between vimentin- and actin-based membrane protrusions are not understood. We report here that CARMIL2 (capping protein, Arp2/3, myosin-I linker 2) provides such a molecular link. CARMIL2 localizes to vimentin, regulates actin capping protein (CP), and binds to membranes. CARMIL2 is necessary for invadopodia formation, as well as cell polarity, lamellipodial assembly, membrane ruffling, macropinocytosis, and collective cell migration. Using point mutants and chimeras with defined biochemical and cellular properties, we discovered that localization to vimentin and CP binding are both essential for the function of CARMIL2 in cells. On the basis of these results, we propose a model in which dynamic vimentin filaments target CARMIL2 to critical membrane-associated locations, where CARMIL2 regulates CP, and thus actin assembly, to create cell protrusions.     

A Mammalian Cell Based FACS-Panning Platform for the Selection of HIV-1 Envelopes for Vaccine Development

An increasing number of broadly neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (bnMAb) against the HIV-1 envelope (Env) protein has been discovered recently. Despite this progress, vaccination efforts with the aim to re-elicit bnMAbs that provide protective immunity have failed so far. Herein, we describe the development of a mammalian cell based FACS-panning method in which bnMAbs are used as tools to select surface-exposed envelope variants according to their binding affinity. For that purpose, an HIV-1 derived lentiviral vector was developed to infect HEK293T cells at low multiplicity of infection (MOI) in order to link Env phenotype and genotype. For proof of principle, a gp145 Env model-library was established in which the complete V3 domain was substituted by five strain specific V3 loop sequences with known binding affinities to nMAb 447-52D, respectively. Env genes were recovered from selected cells by PCR, subcloned into a lentiviral vector (i) to determine and quantify the enrichment nMAb binders and (ii) to generate a new batch of transduction competent particles. After 2 selection cycles the Env variant with highest affinity was enriched 20-fold and represented 80% of the remaining Env population. Exploiting the recently described bnMAbs, this procedure might prove useful in selecting Env proteins from large Env libraries with the potential to elicit bnMAbs when used as vaccine candidates.     

HEK293T Cells Are Heterozygous for CCR5 Delta 32 Mutation

C-C chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5) is a receptor for chemokines and a co-receptor for HIV-1 entry into the target CD4+ cells. CCR5 delta 32 deletion is a loss-of-function mutation, resistant to HIV-1 infection. We tried to induce the CCR5 delta 32 mutation harnessing the genome editing technique, CRISPR-Cas9 (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats, CRISPR and CRISPR associated protein 9, Cas9) in the commonly used cell line human embryonic kidney HEK 293T cells. Surprisingly, we found that HEK293T cells are heterozygous for CCR5 delta 32 mutation, in contrast to the wild type CCR5 cells, human acute T cell leukemia cell line Jurkat and human breast adenocarcinoma cell line MDA-MB-231 cells. This finding indicates that at least one human cell line is heterozygous for the CCR5 delta 32 mutation. We also found that in PCR amplification, wild type CCR5 DNA and mutant delta 32 DNA can form mismatched heteroduplex and move slowly in gel electrophoresis.     

Clustering and Mobility of HIV-1 Env at Viral Assembly Sites Predict Its Propensity To Induce Cell-Cell Fusion

HIV-1 Env mediates virus attachment to and fusion with target cell membranes, and yet, while Env is still situated at the plasma membrane of the producer cell and before its incorporation into newly formed particles, Env already interacts with the viral receptor CD4 on target cells, thus enabling the formation of transient cell contacts that facilitate the transmission of viral particles. During this first encounter with the receptor, Env must not induce membrane fusion, as this would prevent the producer cell and the target cell from separating upon virus transmission, but how Env''s fusion activity is controlled remains unclear. To gain a better understanding of the Env regulation that precedes viral transmission, we examined the nanoscale organization of Env at the surface of producer cells. Utilizing superresolution microscopy (stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy [STORM]) and fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP), we quantitatively assessed the clustering and dynamics of Env upon its arrival at the plasma membrane. We found that Gag assembly induced the aggregation of small Env clusters into larger domains and that these domains were completely immobile. Truncation of the cytoplasmic tail (CT) of Env abrogated Gag''s ability to induce Env clustering and restored Env mobility at assembly sites, both of which correlated with increased Env-induced fusion of infected and uninfected cells. Hence, while Env trapping by Gag secures Env incorporation into viral particles, Env clustering and its sequestration at assembly sites likely also leads to the repression of its fusion function, and thus, by preventing the formation of syncytia, Gag helps to secure efficient transfer of viral particles to target cells.     

Conservation of the Nucleotide Excision Repair Pathway: Characterization of Hydra Xeroderma Pigmentosum Group F Homolog

Hydra, one of the earliest metazoans with tissue grade organization and nervous system, is an animal with a remarkable regeneration capacity and shows no signs of organismal aging. We have for the first time identified genes of the nucleotide excision repair (NER) pathway from hydra. Here we report cloning and characterization of hydra homolog of xeroderma pigmentosum group F (XPF) gene that encodes a structure-specific 5′ endonuclease which is a crucial component of NER. In silico analysis shows that hydra XPF amino acid sequence is very similar to its counterparts from other animals, especially vertebrates, and shows all features essential for its function. By in situ hybridization, we show that hydra XPF is expressed prominently in the multipotent stem cell niche in the central region of the body column. Ectoderm of the diploblastic hydra was shown to express higher levels of XPF as compared to the endoderm by semi-quantitative RT-PCR. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis also demonstrated that interstitial cells, a multipotent and rapidly cycling stem cell lineage of hydra, express higher levels of XPF mRNA than other cell types. Our data show that XPF and by extension, the NER pathway is highly conserved during evolution. The prominent expression of an NER gene in interstitial cells may have implications for the lack of senescence in hydra.     

Antibody-Free Magnetic Cell Sorting of Genetically Modified Primary Human CD4+ T Cells by One-Step Streptavidin Affinity Purification

Existing methods for phenotypic selection of genetically modified mammalian cells suffer disadvantages of time, cost and scalability and, where antibodies are used to bind exogenous cell surface markers for magnetic selection, typically yield cells coated with antibody-antigen complexes and beads. To overcome these limitations we have developed a method termed Antibody-Free Magnetic Cell Sorting in which the 38 amino acid Streptavidin Binding Peptide (SBP) is displayed at the cell surface by the truncated Low Affinity Nerve Growth Receptor (LNGFRF) and used as an affinity tag for one-step selection with streptavidin-conjugated magnetic beads. Cells are released through competition with the naturally occurring vitamin biotin, free of either beads or antibody-antigen complexes and ready for culture or use in downstream applications. Antibody-Free Magnetic Cell Sorting is a rapid, cost-effective, scalable method of magnetic selection applicable to either viral transduction or transient transfection of cell lines or primary cells. We have optimised the system for enrichment of primary human CD4+ T cells expressing shRNAs and exogenous genes of interest to purities of >99%, and used it to isolate cells following Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR)/Cas9 genome editing.