Transfection, Selection, and Colony-picking of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells TALEN-targeted with a GFP Gene into the AAVS1 Safe Harbor

Summary

TALEN-mediated gene editing at the safe harbor AAVS1 locus enables high-efficiency transgene addition in human iPSCs. This protocol describes the procedures for preparing iPSCs for TALEN and donor vector delivery, transfecting iPSCs, and selecting and isolating iPSC clones to achieve targeted integration of a GFP gene to generate reporter lines.

Abstract

Targeted transgene addition can provide persistent gene expression while circumventing the gene silencing and insertional mutagenesis caused by viral vector mediated random integration. This protocol describes a universal and efficient transgene targeted addition platform in human iPSCs based on utilization of validated open-source TALENs and a gene-trap-like donor to deliver transgenes into a safe harbor locus. Importantly, effective gene editing is rate-limited by the delivery efficiency of gene editing vectors. Therefore, this protocol first focuses on preparation of iPSCs for transfection to achieve high nuclear delivery efficiency. When iPSCs are dissociated into single cells using a gentle-cell dissociation reagent and transfected using an optimized program, >50% cells can be induced to take up the large gene editing vectors. Because the AAVS1 locus is located in the intron of an active gene (PPP1R12C), a splicing acceptor (SA)-linked puromycin resistant gene (PAC) was used to select targeted iPSCs while excluding random integration-only and untransfected cells. This strategy greatly increases the chance of obtaining targeted clones, and can be used in other active gene targeting experiments as well. Two weeks after puromycin selection at the dose adjusted for the specific iPSC line, clones are ready to be picked by manual dissection of large, isolated colonies into smaller pieces that are transferred to fresh medium in a smaller well for further expansion and genetic and functional screening. One can follow this protocol to readily obtain multiple GFP reporter iPSC lines that are useful for in vivo and in vitro imaging and cell isolation.

Introduction

The ability to reprogram human somatic cells into embryonic stem cell-like induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) was first discovered by Takahashi et al. in 2007¹. Human dermal fibroblasts transduced with retroviruses expressing four transcription factors (The so-dubbed Yamanaka factors Oct3/4, Sox2, c-Myc, and Klf4) were shown to be highly similar to human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) based on morphology, proliferation, gene expression, and epigenetic status; crucially, iPSCs are also capable of differentiating into cells of all three germ layers¹. The proliferative potential and differentiation capacity of iPSCs makes them very attrac....

Protocol

1. Preparation of Basement Membrane Matrix and Coating of Plasticware

1. Place the frozen basement membrane matrix stock from -20 °C onto ice and thaw overnight at 4 °C.
2. After thawing, pipette 2 mg aliquots of basement membrane matrix into pre-chilled eppendorf tubes. Store these at -20 °C until needed.
3. To prepare basement membrane matrix-coated plates, thaw one aliquot on ice until the last piece of ice in the eppendorf tube disappears (usually within ~2 hr).
4. After thawing, add basement membrane matrix to 12 ml of cold (4 °C) DMEM/F12 to make basement membrane matrix coating solution.
5. Add basem....

Results

A visualization of the protocol is provided in Figure 2, with periods during which iPSCs are cultured in different medium highlighted by either green for E8 or blue for NutriStem. It is important to transfect only high-quality iPSCs; examine culture dishes throughout routine maintenance and verify that iPSC cultures contain mainly distinct colonies bearing a cobblestone-like morphology (Figure 3A); differentiated cells should not occupy more than 10% of the culture. Transfectability of i.......

Discussion

The most critical steps for the successful generation of AAVS1 safe-harbor targeted human iPSCs are: (1) efficiently delivering TALEN and donor plasmids into iPSCs by transfection; (2) optimizing dissociation of iPSCs into single cells before transfection and plating density after transfection; (3) optimizing dose and time of drug-selection based on the growth of iPSC line; (4) carefully dissecting and picking targeted colonies and transferring to new plate/well. Compared to similar methods used in Hockemeyer’s pap.......

Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Matrigel Growth Factor Reduced (GFR) Basement Membrane Matrix, *LDEV-Free, 10 ml	Corning	354230	Store at -20 °C.
DMEM/F-12	Life Technologies	11320-033	Store at 4 °C.
Costar 6 Well Clear TC-Treated Multiple Well Plates	Corning	3506
Essential 8 Medium	Life Technologies	A1517001	Store basal medium at 4 °C. Store supplement at -20 °C.
Y-27632 dihydrochloride	Tocris	1254	Store at room temp. Once dissolved in H2O, store at -20 °C.
Sodium Chloride	Sigma	S5886-500G
UltraPure 0.5 M EDTA, pH 8.0	Life Technologies	15575-020
DPBS, no calcium, no magnesium	Life Technologies	14190-250
100 mm TC-Treated Culture Dish	Corning	430167
DR4 MEF 2M IRR - Academic	GlobalStem	GSC-6204G	Store in liquid Nitrogen.
DMEM, high glucose, pyruvate	Life Technologies	11995-040	Store at 4 °C.
Defined Fetal Bovine Serum, US Origin	HyClone	SH30070.03	Store at -20 °C. Thaw at 4 °C overnight and aliquot. Store aliquots at -20 °C until needed.
MEM Non-Essential Amino Acids Solution (100X)	Life Technologies	11140-050	Store at 4 °C.
4D-Nucleofector Core unit	Lonza	AAF-1001B	part of the electroporation system
4D-Nucleofector X unit	Lonza	AAF-1001X	part of the electroporation system
P3 Primary Cell 4D-Nucleofector X Kit L (24 RCT)	Lonza	V4XP-3024	Upon arrival, remove Primary Cell Solution and supplement and store at 4 °C.
StemPro Accutase Cell Dissociation Reagent	Life Technologies	A1110501	Store at -20 °C. Thaw overnight at 4°C and warm an aliquot in a 37 °C water bath before use.
NutriStem XF/FF Culture Medium	Stemgent	01-0005	Store at -20 °C. Thaw overnight at 4 °C
AAVS1 TALENs (pZT-AAVS1-L1 and pZT-AAVS1-R1)	Addgene	52637 and 52638
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AAVS1-CAG-EGFP Homologous Recombination donor	Addgene	22212
Puromycin Dihydrochloride	Life Technologies	A11138-03	Store at -20 °C. Prepare working aliquots of 1 mg/ml in ddH2O.
Disposable Borosilicate Glass Pasteur Pipets	Fisher Scientific	13-678-20A
Sorvall Legend XTR (Refrigerated), 120 V 60 Hz	Thermo Scientific	75-004-521
TX-750 4 × 750 ml Swinging Bucket Rotor	Thermo Scientific	75003607
Trypan Blue Solution, 0.4%	Life Technologies	15250-061