1. CHEMICALLY MODIFIED FILTROPORATION DEVICES ENABLE CRISPR/CAS9-MEDIATED GENE KNOCKOUT IN HUMAN HEMATOPOIETIC STEM AND PROGENITOR CELLS.
- Author
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Isaura, Frost M., Alexandra, Mendoza M., Chiou Tzu-Ting, Philseok, Kim, Joanna, Aizenberg, Donald, Kohn B., Satiro, De Oliveira N., Paul, Weiss S., and Steven, Jonas J.
- Subjects
HEMATOPOIETIC stem cells ,GENE knockout ,RESOURCE-limited settings ,CRISPRS ,GENE expression ,HEMATOPOIETIC stem cell transplantation - Abstract
Cost effective, high-throughput, non-toxic, efficient, and cargo agnostic intracellular delivery technologies are needed to manufacture gene and cell-based therapeutics more broadly as well as democratize gene manipulation for research applications. Existing technologies capable of delivering large gene editing cargoes, such as CRISPR/Cas9 ribonucleoproteins (RNPs) or base/prime editor constructs, require specialized equipment and reagents that may not be available in resource limited areas and are often limited by high costs and/or cytotoxicity. To address these challenges, we have developed an intracellular delivery approach based on filtroporation that can be assembled from materials commonly available in most research laboratories. Our filtroporation devices permeabilize cells by pulling them through the pores of a track etched cell culture insert by application of vacuum available in biosafety cabinets. In a format that costs <$10 in materials per experiment, we demonstrate delivery of fluorescently labeled dextran, expression plasmids, and Cas9 RNPs for CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene knockout to Jurkat cells and human CD34+ hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell (HSPC) populations with delivery efficiencies of up to 40% for RNP knockout and viabilities >80%. Chemically coating the filters with a fluorinated silane further enhances delivery efficiency. These devices are capable of processing 500,000 to 4 million cells per experiment, and when combined with a three-dimensional printed vacuum application chamber, this throughput can be straightforwardly increased 6 to 12-fold in parallel experiments. The capabilities of this platform provide a simple solution for making intracellular delivery methods for researchers and clinicians in low resource areas of the world more accessible, opening opportunities to engage new communities of scientists in gene and cell therapy research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023