Simple generation of hairless mice for in vivo imaging.

The in vivo imaging of mice makes it possible to analyze disease progress non-invasively through reporter gene expression. As the removal of hair improves the accuracy of in vivo imaging, gene-modified mice with a reporter gene are often crossed with Hos:HR-1 mutant mice homozygous for the spontaneous Hrhr mutation that exhibit a hair loss phenotype. However, it is time consuming to produce mice carrying both the reporter gene and mutant Hrhr gene by mating. In addition, there is a risk that genetic background of the gene-modified mice would be altered by mating. To resolve these issues, we established a simple method to generate hairless mice maintaining the original genetic background by CRISPR technology. First, we constructed the pX330 vector, which targets exon 3 of Hr. This DNA vector (5 ng/µl) was microinjected into the pronuclei of C57BL/6J mice. Induced Hr gene mutations were found in many founders (76.1%) and these mutations were heritable. Next, we performed in vivo imaging using these gene-modified hairless mice. As expected, luminescent objects in their body were detected by in vivo imaging. This study clearly showed that hairless mice could be simply generated by the CRISPR/Cas9 system, and this method may be useful for in vivo imaging studies with various gene-modified mice.

Generation of CRISPR/Cas9-mediated bicistronic knock-in ins1-cre driver mice.

In the present study, we generated novel cre driver mice for gene manipulation in pancreatic ß cells. Using the CRISPR/Cas9 system, stop codon sequences of Ins1 were targeted for insertion of cre, including 2A sequences. A founder of C57BL/6J-Ins1(em1 (cre) Utr) strain was produced from an oocyte injected with pX330 containing the sequences encoding gRNA and Cas9 and a DNA donor plasmid carrying 2A-cre. (R26GRR x C57BL/6J-Ins1(em1 (cre) Utr)) F1 mice were histologically characterized for cre-loxP recombination in the embryonic and adult stages; cre-loxP recombination was observed in all pancreatic islets examined in which almost all insulin-positive cells showed tdsRed fluorescence, suggesting ß cell-specific recombination. Furthermore, there were no significant differences in results of glucose tolerance test among genotypes (homo/hetero/wild). Taken together, these observations indicated that C57BL/6J-Ins1(em1 (cre) Utr) is useful for studies of glucose metabolism and the strategy of bicistronic cre knock-in using the CRISPR/Cas9 system could be useful for production of cre driver mice.

Characterization of the Prediabetic State in a Novel Rat Model of Type 2 Diabetes, the ZFDM Rat.

We recently established a novel animal model of obese type 2 diabetes (T2D), the Zucker fatty diabetes mellitus (ZFDM) rat strain harboring the fatty mutation (fa) in the leptin receptor gene. Here we performed a phenotypic characterization of the strain, focusing mainly on the prediabetic state. At 6-8 weeks of age, fa/fa male rats exhibited mild glucose intolerance and severe insulin resistance. Although basal insulin secretion was remarkably high in the isolated pancreatic islets, the responses to both glucose stimulation and the incretin GLP-1 were retained. At 10-12 weeks of age, fa/fa male rats exhibited marked glucose intolerance as well as severe insulin resistance similar to that at the earlier age. In the pancreatic islets, the insulin secretory response to glucose stimulation was maintained but the response to the incretin was diminished. In nondiabetic Zucker fatty (ZF) rats, the insulin secretory responses to both glucose stimulation and the incretin in the pancreatic islets were similar to those of ZFDM rats. As islet architecture was destroyed with age in ZFDM rats, a combination of severe insulin resistance, diminished insulin secretory response to incretin, and intrinsic fragility of the islets may cause the development of T2D in this strain.

Simple generation of albino C57BL/6J mice with G291T mutation in the tyrosinase gene by the CRISPR/Cas9 system.

Single nucleotide mutations (SNMs) are associated with a variety of human diseases. The CRISPR/Cas9 genome-editing system is expected to be useful as a genetic modification method for production of SNM-induced mice. To investigate whether SNM-induced mice can be generated by zygote microinjection of CRISPR/Cas9 vector and single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) donor, we attempted to produce albino C57BL/6J mice carrying the Tyr gene SNM (G291T) from pigmented C57BL/6J zygotes. We first designed and constructed a CRISPR/Cas9 expression vector for the Tyr gene (px330-Tyr-M). DNA cleavage activity of px330-Tyr-M at the target site of the Tyr gene was confirmed by the EGxxFP system. We also designed an ssDNA donor for homology-directed repair (HDR)-mediated gene modification. The px330-Tyr-M vector and ssDNA donor were co-microinjected into the pronuclei of 224 one-cell-stage embryos derived from C57BL/6J mice. We obtained 60 neonates, 28 of which showed the ocular albinism and absence of coat pigmentation. Genomic sequencing analysis of the albino mice revealed that the target of SNM, G291T in the Tyr gene, occurred in 11 mice and one founder was homozygously mutated. The remaining albino founders without Tyr G291T mutation also possessed biallelic deletion and insertion mutants adjacent to the target site in the Tyr locus. Simple production of albino C57BL/6J mice was provided by C57BL/6J zygote microinjection with px330-Tyr-M DNA vector and mutant ssDNA (G291T in Tyr) donor. A combination of CRISPR/Cas9 vector and optional mutant ssDNA could be expected to efficiently produce novel SNM-induced mouse models for investigating human diseases.

Effects of captopril and telmisartan on matrix metalloproteinase-2 and -9 expressions and development of left ventricular fibrosis induced by isoprenaline in rats.

The aim of this study was to clarify the effects of renin-angiotensin system (RAS) blockade by captopril, an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor, and telmisartan, an angiotensin II type 1 receptor antagonist, on matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and MMP-9 expressions and development of left ventricular (LV) fibrosis induced by isoprenaline in rats. Rats were treated with subcutaneous injection of isoprenaline (5 mg/kg/d) and with oral administration of captopril (30 mg/kg/d) or telmisartan (3 mg/kg/d) for 1 or 7 d. Hearts were excised at the day 2 and day 8. Degree of fibrosis was evaluated by Azan staining. MMP-2 and MMP-9 expressions were analyzed by Western blotting. Localization of MMP-9 expression in LV section was detected by immunohistochemical staining. At the day 8, myocardial fibrosis was observed in LV section from isoprenaline-treated rats. Captopril but not telmisartan significantly enhanced the isoprenaline-induced myocardial fibrosis. MMP-9 expression at the day 2 and MMP-2 expression at the day 8 increased significantly in LV from isoprenaline-treated rats. Captopril had no influence on the MMP-2 expression, but significantly augmented the isoprenaline-induced MMP-9 expression. Telmisartan had no effect on the isoprenaline-induced MMP-2 and MMP-9 expressions. In immunohistochemical staining, MMP-9 positive-interstitial cells were extensively observed in LV sections from isoprenaline + captopril-treated rats at the day 2. The present study reveals that RAS blockade by captopril and telmisartan does not have suppressive effects on isoprenaline-induced MMP-2 and MMP-9 expressions as well as LV fibrosis. Furthermore, captopril may enhance LV fibrosis through promoting isoprenaline-induced MMP-9 expression in cardiac interstitial cells.