title: In vivo interrogation of gene function in the mammalian brain using CRISPR-Cas9.
abstract: Probing gene function in the mammalian brain can be greatly assisted with methods to manipulate the genome of neurons in vivo. The clustered, regularly interspaced, short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-associated endonuclease (Cas)9 from Streptococcus pyogenes (SpCas9) can be used to edit single or multiple genes in replicating eukaryotic cells, resulting in frame-shifting insertion/deletion (indel) mutations and subsequent protein depletion. Here, we delivered SpCas9 and guide RNAs using adeno-associated viral (AAV) vectors to target single (Mecp2) as well as multiple genes (Dnmt1, Dnmt3a and Dnmt3b) in the adult mouse brain in vivo. We characterized the effects of genome modifications in postmitotic neurons using biochemical, genetic, electrophysiological and behavioral readouts. Our results demonstrate that AAV-mediated SpCas9 genome editing can enable reverse genetic studies of gene function in the brain.
authors.affiliation: 1] Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. [2] McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. [3] McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Lukasz
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Swiech
authors.affiliation: 1] Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. [2] McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. [3] McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Heidenreich
authors.affiliation: Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Abhishek
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Banerjee
authors.affiliation: 1] Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. [2] McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. [3] McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Naomi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Habib
authors.affiliation: 1] Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. [2] McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. [3] Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Yinqing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Trombetta
authors.affiliation: Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Mriganka
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sur
authors.affiliation: 1] Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. [2] McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. [3] McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D064112:Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats / Q000502:physiology*; D013297:Streptococcus pyogenes / Q000235:genetics*