No evidence for genome editing in mouse zygotes and HEK293T human cell line using the DNA-guided Natronobacterium gregoryi Argonaute (NgAgo)

PLoS One. 2017 Jun 13;12(6):e0178768. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0178768. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

A recently published research article reported that the extreme halophile archaebacterium Natronobacterium gregoryi Argonaute enzyme (NgAgo) could cleave the cellular DNA under physiological temperature conditions in cell line and be implemented as an alternative to CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing technology. We assessed this claim in mouse zygotes for four loci (Sptb, Tet-1, Tet-2 and Tet-3) and in the human HEK293T cell line for the EMX1 locus. Over 100 zygotes were microinjected with nls-NgAgo-GK plasmid provided from Addgene and various concentrations of 5'-phosphorylated guide DNA (gDNA) from 2.5 ng/μl to 50 ng/μl and cultured to blastocyst stage of development. The presence of indels was verified using T7 endonuclease 1 assay (T7E1) and Sanger sequencing. We reported no evidence of successful editing of the mouse genome. We then assessed the lack of editing efficiency in HEK293T cell line for the EMX1 endogenous locus by monitoring the NgAgo protein expression level and the editing efficiency by T7E1 assay and Sanger sequencing. We reported that the NgAgo protein was expressed from 8 hours to a maximum expression at 48 hours post-transfection, confirming the efficient delivery of the plasmid and the gDNA but no evidence of successful editing of EMX1 target in all transfected samples. Together our findings indicate that we failed to edit using NgAgo.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Archaeal Proteins / genetics
  • Archaeal Proteins / metabolism*
  • Argonaute Proteins / genetics
  • Argonaute Proteins / metabolism*
  • Base Sequence
  • Blotting, Western
  • DNA-Binding Proteins / genetics
  • DNA-Binding Proteins / metabolism
  • Dioxygenases
  • Female
  • Gene Editing / methods*
  • HEK293 Cells
  • Homeodomain Proteins / genetics
  • Homeodomain Proteins / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Mice, Inbred ICR
  • Natronobacterium / enzymology*
  • Natronobacterium / genetics
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins / genetics
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins / metabolism
  • Spectrin / genetics
  • Spectrin / metabolism
  • Transcription Factors / genetics
  • Transcription Factors / metabolism
  • Transfection / methods
  • Zygote / metabolism*

Substances

  • Archaeal Proteins
  • Argonaute Proteins
  • DNA-Binding Proteins
  • Homeodomain Proteins
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins
  • TET1 protein, mouse
  • Transcription Factors
  • empty spiracles homeobox proteins
  • Spectrin
  • Dioxygenases
  • Tet2 protein, mouse
  • Tet3 protein, mouse

Grants and funding

This work was supported from the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure (NCRIS) through the Australian Phenomics Network in Australia. The funders have no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript.