Homozygous might be hemizygous: CRISPR/Cas9 editing in iPSCs results in detrimental on-target defects that escape standard quality controls
Simkin, Dina ; Papakis, Vasileios ; Bustos, Bernabe I ; Ambrosi, Christina M ; Ryan, Steven J ; Baru, Valeriya ; Williams, Luis A ; Dempsey, Graham T ; McManus, Owen B ; Landers, John E ... show 3 more
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Abstract
The ability to precisely edit the genome of human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines using CRISPR/Cas9 has enabled the development of cellular models that can address genotype to phenotype relationships. While genome editing is becoming an essential tool in iPSC-based disease modeling studies, there is no established quality control workflow for edited cells. Moreover, large on-target deletions and insertions that occur through DNA repair mechanisms have recently been uncovered in CRISPR/Cas9-edited loci. Yet the frequency of these events in human iPSCs remains unclear, as they can be difficult to detect. We examined 27 iPSC clones generated after targeting 9 loci and found that 33% had acquired large, on-target genomic defects, including insertions and loss of heterozygosity. Critically, all defects had escaped standard PCR and Sanger sequencing analysis. We describe a cost-efficient quality control strategy that successfully identified all edited clones with detrimental on-target events and could facilitate the integrity of iPSC-based studies.
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Simkin D, Papakis V, Bustos BI, Ambrosi CM, Ryan SJ, Baru V, Williams LA, Dempsey GT, McManus OB, Landers JE, Lubbe SJ, George AL Jr, Kiskinis E. Homozygous might be hemizygous: CRISPR/Cas9 editing in iPSCs results in detrimental on-target defects that escape standard quality controls. Stem Cell Reports. 2022 Apr 12;17(4):993-1008. doi: 10.1016/j.stemcr.2022.02.008. Epub 2022 Mar 10. PMID: 35276091; PMCID: PMC9023783.