PUBLICATION

Transient, flexible gene editing in zebrafish neutrophils and macrophages for determination of cell-autonomous functions

Authors
Isiaku, A.I., Zhang, Z., Pazhakh, V., Manley, H.R., Thompson, E.R., Fox, L.C., Yerneni, S., Blombery, P., Lieschke, G.J.
ID
ZDB-PUB-210729-4
Date
2021
Source
Disease models & mechanisms   14(7): (Journal)
Registered Authors
Manley, Harriet, Pazhakh, Vahid
Keywords
CRISPR-Cas9, Cell autonomy, Gene editing, Macrophages, Neutrophils, Zebrafish
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Animals, Genetically Modified
  • CRISPR-Cas Systems/genetics
  • Gene Editing*
  • Humans
  • Macrophages/metabolism
  • Neutrophils/metabolism
  • Transcription Factors/metabolism
  • Zebrafish*/genetics
  • Zebrafish*/metabolism
PubMed
34296745 Full text @ Dis. Model. Mech.
Abstract
Zebrafish are an important model for studying phagocyte function, but rigorous experimental systems to distinguish whether phagocyte-dependent effects are neutrophil or macrophage specific have been lacking. We have developed and validated transgenic lines that enable superior demonstration of cell-autonomous neutrophil and macrophage genetic requirements. We coupled well-characterized neutrophil- and macrophage-specific Gal4 driver lines with UAS:Cas9 transgenes for selective expression of Cas9 in either neutrophils or macrophages. Efficient gene editing, confirmed by both Sanger and next-generation sequencing, occurred in both lineages following microinjection of efficacious synthetic guide RNAs into zebrafish embryos. In proof-of-principle experiments, we demonstrated molecular and/or functional evidence of on-target gene editing for several genes (mCherry, lamin B receptor, trim33) in either neutrophils or macrophages as intended. These new UAS:Cas9 tools provide an improved resource for assessing individual contributions of neutrophil- and macrophage-expressed genes to the many physiological processes and diseases modelled in zebrafish. Furthermore, this gene-editing functionality can be exploited in any cell lineage for which a lineage-specific Gal4 driver is available. This article has an associated First Person interview with the first author of the paper.
Genes / Markers
Figures
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Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping