High-Efficiency Gene Disruption in Primary Bone Marrow-Derived Macrophages Using Electroporated Cas9-sgRNA Complexes

Summary

This protocol describes the procedure for genome editing in mouse bone marrow-derived macrophages using Cas9-sgRNA ribonucleoprotein complexes assembled in vitro and delivered by electroporation.

Abstract

Bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs) from mice are a key tool for studying the complex biology of tissue macrophages. As primary cells, they model the physiology of macrophages in vivo more closely than immortalized macrophage cell lines and can be derived from mice already carrying defined genetic changes. However, disrupting gene function in BMDMs remains technically challenging. Here, we provide a protocol for efficient CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing in BMDMs, which allows for the introduction of small insertions and deletions (indels) that result in frameshift mutations that disrupt gene function. The protocol describes how to synthesize single-guide RNAs (sgRNA-Cas9) and form purified sgRNA-Cas9 ribonucleoprotein complexes (RNPs) that can be delivered by electroporation. It also provides an efficient method for monitoring editing efficiency using routine Sanger sequencing and a freely available online analysis program. The protocol can be performed within 1 week and does not require plasmid construction; it typically results in 85% to 95% editing efficiency.

Introduction

Macrophages are innate immune cells that play critical roles in tissue repair and immunity^1,2. Immortalized macrophage cell lines, such as mouse RAW 264.7 cells or human THP-1 cells, have several beneficial characteristics, including robust growth and ease of gene disruption by delivering vectors for RNA interference or CRISPR/Cas9^3,4. However, oncogenic transformation dramatically alters their physiology, which results in the aberrant activation of some pathways and muted responses of others^5,6. Primary bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs) more closely recapitulate in vivo macrophage physiology, but remain challenging to genetically manipulate due to the low efficiency of both plasmid transfection and viral transduction in these primary immune cells^7,8. Thus, more efficient methods for disrupting gene function are needed.

CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing is a powerful tool for genetic manipulation across a range of biological systems, including mammalian cells^9,10,11,12. The Streptococcus pyogenes Cas9 protein efficiently and specifically cleaves double-stranded DNA when complexed with a sequence-specific guide RNA. DNA repair through the non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) of the cleaved DNA results in small insertions or deletions (indels) that create frameshift mutations. In early studies, Cas9 and sgRNAs were delivered through plasmid or lentiviral vectors, which are effective delivery methods for many cell lines^9,10. However, primary cells and, in particular, primary immune cells are often refractory to these methods due to the low efficiency of vector delivery by transfection or transduction. Subsequently, methods have been developed to generate sgRNA-Cas9 complexes in vitro and to deliver them via electroporation, and these methods have achieved high efficiency in a variety of cell types^13,14. The results have suggested the possibility of using this approach to carry out genome editing in primary macrophages.

Here, we provide a protocol for using sgRNA-Cas9 ribonucleoprotein complexes (RNPs) to carry out genome editing in primary BMDMs. It contains steps to mitigate the activation of the immune sensors present in primary immune cells and results in up to 95% editing at targeted loci with minimal toxicity. This protocol also includes workflows to evaluate editing efficiency using routine polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Sanger sequencing, followed by in silico analysis by Tracking of Indels by Decomposition (TIDE)¹⁵, a well-validated online software tool.

Protocol

1. sgRNA design NOTE: This step describes selection of the target sequences and design of the sgRNAs. It is helpful to design guides that are in the first large coding exon, so that any translated protein is disrupted early in the open reading frame. It is also helpful to select target sequences that lie within the same exon, as this will streamline the analysis of the editing efficiency (step 6). The examples of genome editing provided with this protocol used sgRNAs targeting t…

Representative Results

The IVT template is a 127 bp PCR product (Figure 1B). The full-length IVT product is a 98 nt RNA, which migrates similarly to a 70 bp double-stranded DNA fragment (Figure 1C). After electroporation, the cells should be >90% viable, with a total cell count of >70% of the starting cell number. The resulting pool of mutant cells should have a diverse set of indels, starting near the Cas9 cleavage site. The analysis of the targete…

Discussion

Genome editing using electroporated Cas9-sgRNA complexes allows effective disruption of gene function in BMDMs. The editing efficiency varies by the target sequence and gene. Typically, four to five sgRNAs are generally screened to identify one that is highly active. Some loci have lower editing efficiencies, most likely due the chromatin structure. In these cases, several modifications can be made to increase the editing efficiency. Co-delivery of two active sgRNAs to the same exon results in improved editing for some g…

Materials

3T3-MCSF Cell Line	Gift from Russell Vance	not applicable
Alt-R Cas9 Electroporation Enhancer	IDT	1075915
Ampure XP Reagent Beads	Beckman Coulter	A63880
Calf intestinal alkaline phosphatase	NEB	M0525S
DNase	NEB	M0303S
DPBS +Ca/Mg (0.9mM CaCl2 and 0.5mM MgCl2)	Thermo Fisher	14040-133
DPBS -Ca/Mg	Thermo Fisher	14190-144
ExoI	NEB	M0293S
Fetal Calf Serum (FCS)	Corning	35-015-CV
Herculase DNA polymerase & buffer	Agilent	600677
HiScribe T7 High Yield RNA Synthesis Kit	NEB	E2040S
LoBind conical tubes 15 mL	Eppendorf	30122216
LoBind Eppendorf tubes 2 mL	Eppendorf	22431102
NEBuffer r2.1	NEB	B6002S
Neon Transfection System	Thermo Fisher	MPK5000, MPP100, MPS100
Neon Transfection System 10 uL Tips	Thermo Fisher	MPK1025 or MPK1096
PBS + 1mM EDTA	Lonza	BE02017F
Proteinase K	Thermo Fisher	EO0491
rCutSmart Buffer for ExoI	NEB	B6004S
Ribolock	Thermo Fisher	EO0384
RNA loading dye	NEB	B0363S
RNeasy Mini Kit	Qiagen	74104
S. pyogenes Cas9-NLS	University of California Macro Lab	not applicable	Available to non-UC investigators through  https://qb3.berkeley.edu
S. pyogenes Cas9-NLS, modified 3rd Generation	IDT	1081059
SAP	NEB	M0371S