I- Sce I-Induced Gene Replacement at a Natural Locus in Embryonic Stem Cells

Abstract

ABSTRACT Gene targeting is a very powerful tool for studying mammalian development and physiology and for creating models of human diseases. In many instances, however, it is desirable to study different modifications of a target gene, but this is limited by the generally low frequency of homologous recombination in mammalian cells. We have developed a novel gene-targeting strategy in mouse embryonic stem cells that is based on the induction of endogenous gap repair processes at a defined location within the genome by induction of a double-strand break (DSB) in the gene to be mutated. This strategy was used to knock in an NH 2 -ezrin mutant in the villin gene, which encodes an actin-binding protein expressed in the brush border of the intestine and the kidney. To induce the DSB, an I- Sce I yeast meganuclease restriction site was first introduced by gene targeting to the villin gene, followed by transient expression of I- Sce I. The repair of the ensuing DSB was achieved with high efficiency (6 × 10 −6 ) by a repair shuttle vector sharing only a 2.8-kb region of homology with the villin gene and no negative selection marker. Compared to conventional gene-targeting experiments at the villin locus, this represents a 100-fold stimulation of gene-targeting frequency, notwithstanding a much lower length of homology. This strategy will be very helpful in facilitating the targeted introduction of several types of mutations within a gene of interest.