The versatile electric condition in mouse embryos for genome editing using a three-step square-wave pulse electroporator.

Technique for Animal Knockout system by Electroporation (TAKE) is a simple and efficient method to generate genetically modified (GM) mice using the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9) systems. To reinforce the versatility of electroporation used for gene editing in mice, the electric condition was optimized for vitrified-warmed mouse embryos, and applied to the fresh embryos from widely used inbred strains (C57BL/6NCr, BALB/cCrSlc, FVB/NJcl, and C3H/HeJJcl). The electric pulse settings (poring pulse: voltage, 150 V; pulse width, 1.0 ms; pulse interval, 50 ms; number of pulses, +4; transfer pulse: voltage, 20 V; pulse width, 50 ms; pulse interval, 50 ms; number of pulses, ±5) were optimal for vitrified-warmed mouse embryos, which could efficiently deliver the gRNA/Cas9 complex into the zygotes without zona pellucida thinning process and edit the target locus. These electric condition efficiently generated GM mice in widely used inbred mouse strains. In addition, electroporation using the electrode with a 5 mm gap could introduce more than 100 embryos within 5 min without specific pretreatment and sophisticated technical skills, such as microinjection, and exhibited a high developmental rate of embryos and genome-editing efficiency in the generated offspring, leading to the rapid and efficient generation of genome editing mice. The electric condition used in this study is highly versatile and can contribute to understanding human diseases and gene functions by generating GM mice more easily and efficiently.

Ion gels prepared by in situ radical polymerization of vinyl monomers in an ionic liquid and their characterization as polymer electrolytes.

To realize polymer electrolytes with high ionic conductivity, we exploited the high ionic conductivity of an ionic liquid. In situ free radical polymerization of compatible vinyl monomers in a room temperature ionic liquid, 1-ethyl-3-methyl imidazolium bis(trifluoromethane sulfonyl)imide (EMITFSI), afforded a novel series of polymer electrolytes. Polymer gels obtained by the polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) in EMITFSI in the presence of a small amount of a cross-linker gave self-standing, flexible, and transparent films. The glass transition temperatures of the gels, which we named "ion gels", decreased with increasing mole fraction of EMITFSI and behaved as a completely compatible binary system of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and EMITFSI. The temperature dependence of the ionic conductivity of the ion gels followed the Vogel-Tamman-Fulcher (VTF) equation, and the ionic conductivity at ambient temperature reached a value close to 10(-2) S cm(-1). Similarly to the behavior of the ionic liquid, the cation in the ion gels diffused faster than the anion. The number of carrier ions, calculated from the Nernst-Einstein equation, was found to increase for an ion gel from the corresponding value for the ionic liquid itself. The cation transference number increased with decreasing EMITFSI concentration due to interaction between the PMMA matrix and the TFSI(-) anion, which prohibited the formation of ion clusters or associates, as was the case for the ionic liquid itself.

Distinct difference in ionic transport behavior in polymer electrolytes depending on the matrix polymers and incorporated salts.

Two different electrolyte salts, lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (LiTFSI), and a room temperature ionic liquid, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (EMITFSI), were incorporated into network polymers to obtain ion-conductive polymer electrolytes. Network polymers of poly(ethylene oxide-co-propylene oxide) (P(EO/PO)) and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) were chosen as matrixes for LiTFSI and EMITFSI, respectively. Both of the polymer electrolytes were single-phase materials and were completely amorphous. Ionic conductivity of the polymer electrolytes was measured over a wide temperature range, with the lowest temperatures close to or below the glass transition temperatures (Tg). The Arrhenius plots of the conductivity for both of the systems exhibited positively curved profiles and could be well fit to the Vogel-Tamman-Fulcher (VTF) equation. The conductivity of the PMMA/EMITFSI electrolytes was higher at most by 3 orders of magnitude than that of the LiTFSI/P(EO/ PO) electrolytes at ambient temperature. When the ideal glass transition temperature, T0 (one of the VTF fitting parameters), was compared with the Tg, a difference in the ionic conduction was apparent in these systems. In the P(EO/PO)/LiTFSI electrolytes, the T0 and Tg increased in parallel with salt concentration and the T0 was lower than the Tg by ca. 50 degrees C. On the contrary, the difference between the T0 and the Tg increased with increasing content of PMMA in the PMMA/EMITFSI electrolytes, with the observed difference in the concentration range studied reaching up to ca. 100 degrees C. The conductivity at the Tg, sigma(Tg), for the LiTFSI/P(EO/PO) electrolytes was on the order of 10(-14-)10(-13) S cm(-1) and increased with increasing salt concentration, whereas that for the PMMA/EMITFSI polymer electrolytes reached 10(-7) S cm(-1) when the concentration of PMMA was high. The ion transport mechanism was discussed in terms of the concepts of coupling/decoupling and strong/fragile for the two different polymer electrolytes.