Engineering Human Stem Cell Lines with Inducible Gene Knockout using CRISPR/Cas9

Precise temporal control of gene expression or deletion is critical for elucidating gene function in biological systems. However, the establishment of human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC) lines with inducible gene knockout (iKO) remains challenging. We explored building iKO hPSC lines by combining CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing with the Flp/FRT and Cre/LoxP system. We found that "dual-sgRNA targeting'' is essential for biallelic knockin of FRT sequences to flank the exon. We further developed a strategy to simultaneously insert an activity-controllable recombinase-expressing cassette and remove the drug-resistance gene, thus speeding up the generation of iKO hPSC lines. This two-step strategy was used to establish human embryonic stem cell (hESC) and induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines with iKO of SOX2, PAX6, OTX2, and AGO2, genes that exhibit diverse structural layout and temporal expression patterns. The availability of iKO hPSC lines will substantially transform the way we examine gene function in human cells.