Highly efficient CRISPR/Cas9-mediated TAR cloning of genes and chromosomal loci from complex genomes in yeast.

Transformation-associated recombination (TAR) protocol allowing the selective isolation of full-length genes complete with their distal enhancer regions and entire genomic loci with sizes up to 250 kb from complex genomes in yeast S. cerevisiae has been developed more than a decade ago. However, its wide spread usage has been impeded by a low efficiency (0.5-2%) of chromosomal region capture during yeast transformants which in turn requires a time-consuming screen of hundreds of colonies. Here, we demonstrate that pre-treatment of genomic DNA with CRISPR-Cas9 nucleases to generate double-strand breaks near the targeted genomic region results in a dramatic increase in the fraction of gene-positive colonies (up to 32%). As only a dozen or less yeast transformants need to be screened to obtain a clone with the desired chromosomal region, extensive experience with yeast is no longer required. A TAR-CRISPR protocol may help to create a bank of human genes, each represented by a genomic copy containing its native regulatory elements, that would lead to a significant advance in functional, structural and comparative genomics, in diagnostics, gene replacement, generation of animal models for human diseases and has a potential for gene therapy.

Generation of a conditionally self-eliminating HAC gene delivery vector through incorporation of a tTAVP64 expression cassette.

Human artificial chromosome (HAC)-based vectors represent an alternative technology for gene delivery and expression with a potential to overcome the problems caused by virus-based vectors. The recently developed alphoid(tetO)-HAC has an advantage over other HAC vectors because it can be easily eliminated from cells by inactivation of the HAC kinetochore via binding of chromatin modifiers, tTA or tTS, to its centromeric tetO sequences. This provides a unique control for phenotypes induced by genes loaded into the HAC. The alphoid(tetO)-HAC elimination is highly efficient when a high level of chromatin modifiers as tetR fusion proteins is achieved following transfection of cells by a retrovirus vector. However, such vectors are potentially mutagenic and might want to be avoided under some circumstances. Here, we describe a novel system that allows verification of phenotypic changes attributed to expression of genes from the HAC without a transfection step. We demonstrated that a single copy of tTA(VP64) carrying four tandem repeats of the VP16 domain constitutively expressed from the HAC is capable to generate chromatin changes in the HAC kinetochore that are not compatible with its function. To adopt the alphoid(tetO)-HAC for routine gene function studies, we constructed a new TAR-BRV- tTA(VP64) cloning vector that allows a selective isolation of a gene of interest from genomic DNA in yeast followed by its direct transfer to bacterial cells and subsequent loading into the loxP site of the alphoid(tetO)-HAC in hamster CHO cells from where the HAC may be MMCT-transferred to the recipient human cells.

Kinetochore assembly and heterochromatin formation occur autonomously in Schizosaccharomyces pombe.

Kinetochores in multicellular eukaryotes are usually associated with heterochromatin. Whether this heterochromatin simply promotes the cohesion necessary for accurate chromosome segregation at cell division or whether it also has a role in kinetochore assembly is unclear. Schizosaccharomyces pombe is an important experimental system for investigating centromere function, but all of the previous work with this species has exploited a single strain or its derivatives. The laboratory strain and most other S. pombe strains contain three chromosomes, but one recently discovered strain, CBS 2777, contains four. We show that the genome of CBS 2777 is related to that of the laboratory strain by a complex chromosome rearrangement. As a result, two of the kinetochores in CBS 2777 contain the central core sequences present in the laboratory strain centromeres, but lack adjacent heterochromatin. The closest block of heterochromatin to these rearranged kinetochores is ∼100 kb away at new telomeres. Despite lacking large amounts of adjacent heterochromatin, the rearranged kinetochores bind CENP-A(Cnp1) and CENP-C(Cnp3) in similar quantities and with similar specificities as those of the laboratory strain. The simplest interpretation of this result is that constitutive kinetochore assembly and heterochromatin formation occur autonomously.

A portable BRCA1-HAC (human artificial chromosome) module for analysis of BRCA1 tumor suppressor function.

BRCA1 is involved in many disparate cellular functions, including DNA damage repair, cell-cycle checkpoint activation, gene transcriptional regulation, DNA replication, centrosome function and others. The majority of evidence strongly favors the maintenance of genomic integrity as a principal tumor suppressor activity of BRCA1. At the same time some functional aspects of BRCA1 are not fully understood. Here, a HAC (human artificial chromosome) module with a regulated centromere was constructed for delivery and expression of the 90 kb genomic copy of the BRCA1 gene into BRCA1-deficient human cells. A battery of functional tests was carried out to demonstrate functionality of the exogenous BRCA1. In separate experiments, we investigated the role of BRCA1 in maintenance of heterochromatin integrity within a human functional kinetochore. We demonstrated that BRCA1 deficiency results in a specific activation of transcription of higher-order alpha-satellite repeats (HORs) assembled into heterochromatin domains flanking the kinetochore. At the same time no detectable elevation of transcription was observed within HORs assembled into centrochromatin domains. Thus, we demonstrated a link between BRCA1 deficiency and kinetochore dysfunction and extended previous observations that BRCA1 is required to silence transcription in heterochromatin in specific genomic loci. This supports the hypothesis that epigenetic alterations of the kinetochore initiated in the absence of BRCA1 may contribute to cellular transformation.

Re-engineering an alphoid(tetO)-HAC-based vector to enable high-throughput analyses of gene function.

Human artificial chromosome (HAC)-based vectors represent an alternative technology for gene delivery and expression with a potential to overcome the problems caused by the use of viral-based vectors. The recently developed alphoid(tetO)-HAC has an advantage over other HAC vectors because it can be easily eliminated from cells by inactivation of the HAC kinetochore via binding of tTS chromatin modifiers to its centromeric tetO sequences. This provides unique control for phenotypes induced by genes loaded into the alphoid(tetO)-HAC. However, inactivation of the HAC kinetochore requires transfection of cells by a retrovirus vector, a step that is potentially mutagenic. Here, we describe an approach to re-engineering the alphoid(tetO)-HAC that allows verification of phenotypic changes attributed to expression of genes from the HAC without a transfection step. In the new HAC vector, a tTS-EYFP cassette is inserted into a gene-loading site along with a gene of interest. Expression of the tTS generates a self-regulating fluctuating heterochromatin on the alphoid(tetO)-HAC that induces fast silencing of the genes on the HAC without significant effects on HAC segregation. This silencing of the HAC-encoded genes can be readily recovered by adding doxycycline. The newly modified alphoid(tetO)-HAC-based system has multiple applications in gene function studies.

Protecting a transgene expression from the HAC-based vector by different chromatin insulators.

Human artificial chromosomes (HACs) are vectors that offer advantages of capacity and stability for gene delivery and expression. Several studies have even demonstrated their use for gene complementation in gene-deficient recipient cell lines and animal transgenesis. Recently, we constructed an advance HAC-based vector, alphoid(tetO)-HAC, with a conditional centromere. In this HAC, a gene-loading site was inserted into a centrochromatin domain critical for kinetochore assembly and maintenance. While by definition this domain is permissive for transcription, there have been no long-term studies on transgene expression within centrochromatin. In this study, we compared the effects of three chromatin insulators, cHS4, gamma-satellite DNA, and tDNA, on the expression of an EGFP transgene inserted into the alphoid(tetO)-HAC vector. Insulator function was essential for stable expression of the transgene in centrochromatin. In two analyzed host cell lines, a tDNA insulator composed of two functional copies of tRNA genes showed the highest barrier activity. We infer that proximity to centrochromatin does not protect genes lacking chromatin insulators from epigenetic silencing. Barrier elements that prevent gene silencing in centrochromatin would thus help to optimize transgenesis using HAC vectors.

A new assay for measuring chromosome instability (CIN) and identification of drugs that elevate CIN in cancer cells.

BACKGROUND: Aneuploidy is a feature of most cancer cells that is often accompanied by an elevated rate of chromosome mis-segregation termed chromosome instability (CIN). While CIN can act as a driver of cancer genome evolution and tumor progression, recent findings point to the existence of a threshold level beyond which CIN becomes a barrier to tumor growth and therefore can be exploited therapeutically. Drugs known to increase CIN beyond the therapeutic threshold are currently few in number, and the clinical promise of targeting the CIN phenotype warrants new screening efforts. However, none of the existing methods, including the in vitro micronuclei (MNi) assay, developed to quantify CIN, is entirely satisfactory. METHODS: We have developed a new assay for measuring CIN. This quantitative assay for chromosome mis-segregation is based on the use of a non-essential human artificial chromosome (HAC) carrying a constitutively expressed EGFP transgene. Thus, cells that inherit the HAC display green fluorescence, while cells lacking the HAC do not. This allows the measurement of HAC loss rate by routine flow cytometry. RESULTS: Using the HAC-based chromosome loss assay, we have analyzed several well-known anti-mitotic, spindle-targeting compounds, all of which have been reported to induce micronuclei formation and chromosome loss. For each drug, the rate of HAC loss was accurately measured by flow cytometry as a proportion of non-fluorescent cells in the cell population which was verified by FISH analysis. Based on our estimates, despite their similar cytotoxicity, the analyzed drugs affect the rates of HAC mis-segregation during mitotic divisions differently. The highest rate of HAC mis-segregation was observed for the microtubule-stabilizing drugs, taxol and peloruside A. CONCLUSION: Thus, this new and simple assay allows for a quick and efficient screen of hundreds of drugs to identify those affecting chromosome mis-segregation. It also allows ranking of compounds with the same or similar mechanism of action based on their effect on the rate of chromosome loss. The identification of new compounds that increase chromosome mis-segregation rates should expedite the development of new therapeutic strategies to target the CIN phenotype in cancer cells.

Exclusion of the 750-kb genetically unstable region at Xq27 as a candidate locus for prostate malignancy in HPCX1-linked families.

Several linkage studies provided evidence for the presence of the hereditary prostate cancer locus, HPCX1, at Xq27-q28. The strongest linkage peak of prostate cancer overlies a variable region of ~750 kb at Xq27 enriched by segmental duplications (SDs), suggesting that the predisposition to prostate cancer may be a genomic disorder caused by recombinational interaction between SDs. The large size of SDs and their sequence similarity make it difficult to examine this region for possible rearrangements using standard methods. To overcome this problem, direct isolation of a set of genomic segments by in vivo recombination in yeast (a TAR cloning technique) was used to perform a mutational analysis of the 750 kb region in X-linked families. We did not detect disease-specific rearrangements within this region. In addition, transcriptome and computational analyses were performed to search for nonannotated genes within the Xq27 region, which may be associated with genetic predisposition to prostate cancer. Two candidate genes were identified, one of which is a novel gene termed SPANXL that represents a highly diverged member of the SPANX gene family, and the previously described CDR1 gene that is expressed at a high level in both normal and malignant prostate cells, and mapped 210 kb of upstream the SPANX gene cluster. No disease-specific alterations were identified in these genes. Our results exclude the 750-kb genetically unstable region at Xq27 as a candidate locus for prostate malignancy. Adjacent regions appear to be the most likely candidates to identify the elusive HPCX1 locus.

Serine recombinases as tools for genome engineering.

The serine recombinases differ mechanistically from the tyrosine recombinases and include proteins such as ϕC31 integrase which, unlike Cre and Flp, promote unidirectional reactions. The serine recombinase family is large and includes many other proteins besides ϕC31 integrase with the potential to be widely used in genome engineering. Here we review the details of the mechanism of the reactions promoted by the serine recombinases and discuss how these not only limit the utility of this class of recombinase but also creates opportunities for the engineering of new enzymes. We discuss the unanswered questions posed by genome engineering experiments in a variety of systems in which the serine recombinases have been used and finally describe more recently discovered serine recombinases that have the potential to be used in genome engineering.

Assembly of Multiple Full-Size Genes or Genomic DNA Fragments on Human Artificial Chromosomes Using the Iterative Integration System.

Human artificial chromosomes (HACs) are gene delivery vectors that have been used for decades for gene functional studies. HACs have several advantages over viral-based gene transfer systems, including stable episomal maintenance in a single copy in the cell and the ability to carry up to megabase-sized genomic DNA segments. We have previously developed the alphoidtetO -HAC, which has a single gene acceptor loxP site that allows insertion of an individual gene of interest using Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) hybrid cells. The HAC, along with a DNA segment of interest, can then be transferred from donor CHO cells to various recipient cells of interest via microcell-mediated chromosome transfer (MMCT). Here, we detail a protocol for loading multiple genomic DNA segments or genes into the alphoidtetO -HAC vector using an iterative integration system (IIS) that utilizes recombinases Cre, ΦC31, and ΦBT. This IIS-alphoidtetO -HAC can be used for either serially assembling genomic loci or fragments of a large gene, or for inserting multiple genes into the same artificial chromosome. The insertions are executed iteratively, whereby each round results in the insertion of a new DNA segment of interest. This is accompanied by changes of expression of marker fluorescent proteins, which simplifies screening of correct clones, and changes of selection and counterselection markers, which constitutes an error-proofing mechanism that removes mis-incorporated DNA segments. In addition, the IIS-alphoidtetO -HAC carrying the genes can be eliminated from the cells, offering the possibility to compare the phenotypes of human cells with and without functional copies of the genes of interest. The resulting HAC molecules may be used to investigate biomedically relevant pathways or the regulation of multiple genes, and to potentially engineer synthetic chromosomes with a specific set of genes of interest. The IIS-alphoidtetO -HAC system is expected to be beneficial in creating multiple-gene humanized models with the purpose of understanding complex multi-gene genetic disorders. Published 2021. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA. Current Protocols published by Wiley Periodicals LLC. Basic Protocol 1: Integration of the first DNA segment of interest into the IIS-alphoidteto -HAC Basic Protocol 2: Integration of a second DNA segment of interest into the IIS-alphoidteto -HAC Basic Protocol 3: Integration of a third DNA segment of interest into the IIS-alphoidteto -HAC Support Protocol: Fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis for the circular IIS-alphoidtetO -HAC.

Site-specific recombination in Schizosaccharomyces pombe and systematic assembly of a 400kb transgene array in mammalian cells using the integrase of Streptomyces phage phiBT1.

We have established the integrase of the Streptomyces phage phiBT1 as a tool for eukaryotic genome manipulation. We show that the phiBT1 integrase promotes efficient reciprocal and conservative site-specific recombination in vertebrate cells and in Schizosaccharomyces pombe, thus establishing the utility of this protein for genome manipulation in a wide range of eukaryotes. We show that the phiBT1 integrase can be used in conjunction with Cre recombinase to promote the iterative integration of transgenic DNA. We describe five cycles of iterative integration of a candidate mouse centromeric sequence 80 kb in length into a human mini-chromosome within a human-Chinese hamster hybrid cell line. These results establish the generality of the iterative site-specific integration technique.

Method to Assemble Genomic DNA Fragments or Genes on Human Artificial Chromosome with Regulated Kinetochore Using a Multi-Integrase System.

The production of cells capable of carrying multiple transgenes to Mb-size genomic loci has multiple applications in biomedicine and biotechnology. In order to achieve this goal, three key steps are required: (i) cloning of large genomic segments; (ii) insertion of multiple DNA blocks at a precise location and (iii) the capability to eliminate the assembled region from cells. In this study, we designed the iterative integration system (IIS) that utilizes recombinases Cre, ΦC31 and ΦBT1, and combined it with a human artificial chromosome (HAC) possessing a regulated kinetochore (alphoidtetO-HAC). We have demonstrated that the IIS-alphoidtetO-HAC system is a valuable genetic tool by reassembling a functional gene from multiple segments on the HAC. IIS-alphoidtetO-HAC has several notable advantages over other artificial chromosome-based systems. This includes the potential to assemble an unlimited number of genomic DNA segments; a DNA assembly process that leaves only a small insertion (<60 bp) scar between adjacent DNA, allowing genes reassembled from segments to be spliced correctly; a marker exchange system that also changes cell color, and counter-selection markers at each DNA insertion step, simplifying selection of correct clones; and presence of an error proofing mechanism to remove cells with misincorporated DNA segments, which improves the integrity of assembly. In addition, the IIS-alphoidtetO-HAC carrying a locus of interest is removable, offering the unique possibility to revert the cell line to its pretransformed state and compare the phenotypes of human cells with and without a functional copy of a gene(s). Thus, IIS-alphoidtetO-HAC allows investigation of complex biomedical pathways, gene(s) regulation, and has the potential to engineer synthetic chromosomes with a predetermined set of genes.

Analysis of the 9p21.3 sequence associated with coronary artery disease reveals a tendency for duplication in a CAD patient.

Tandem segmental duplications (SDs) greater than 10 kb are widespread in complex genomes. They provide material for gene divergence and evolutionary adaptation, while formation of specific de novo SDs is a hallmark of cancer and some human diseases. Most SDs map to distinct genomic regions termed 'duplication blocks'. SDs organization within these blocks is often poorly characterized as they are mosaics of ancestral duplicons juxtaposed with younger duplicons arising from more recent duplication events. Structural and functional analysis of SDs is further hampered as long repetitive DNA structures are underrepresented in existing BAC and YAC libraries. We applied Transformation-Associated Recombination (TAR) cloning, a versatile technique for large DNA manipulation, to selectively isolate the coronary artery disease (CAD) interval sequence within the 9p21.3 chromosome locus from a patient with coronary artery disease and normal individuals. Four tandem head-to-tail duplicons, each ∼50 kb long, were recovered in the patient but not in normal individuals. Sequence analysis revealed that the repeats varied by 10-15 SNPs between each other and by 82 SNPs between the human genome sequence (version hg19). SNPs polymorphism within the junctions between repeats allowed two junction types to be distinguished, Type 1 and Type 2, which were found at a 2:1 ratio. The junction sequences contained an Alu element, a sequence previously shown to play a role in duplication. Knowledge of structural variation in the CAD interval from more patients could help link this locus to cardiovascular diseases susceptibility, and maybe relevant to other cases of regional amplification, including cancer.

Effects of Anticancer Drugs on Chromosome Instability and New Clinical Implications for Tumor-Suppressing Therapies.

Whole chromosomal instability (CIN), manifested as unequal chromosome distribution during cell division, is a distinguishing feature of most cancer types. CIN is generally considered to drive tumorigenesis, but a threshold level exists whereby further increases in CIN frequency in fact hinder tumor growth. While this attribute is appealing for therapeutic exploitation, drugs that increase CIN beyond this therapeutic threshold are currently limited. In our previous work, we developed a quantitative assay for measuring CIN based on the use of a nonessential human artificial chromosome (HAC) carrying a constitutively expressed EGFP transgene. Here, we used this assay to rank 62 different anticancer drugs with respect to their effects on chromosome transmission fidelity. Drugs with various mechanisms of action, such as antimicrotubule activity, histone deacetylase inhibition, mitotic checkpoint inhibition, and targeting of DNA replication and damage responses, were included in the analysis. Ranking of the drugs based on their ability to induce HAC loss revealed that paclitaxel, gemcitabine, dactylolide, LMP400, talazoparib, olaparib, peloruside A, GW843682, VX-680, and cisplatin were the top 10 drugs demonstrating HAC loss at a high frequency. Therefore, identification of currently used compounds that greatly increase chromosome mis-segregation rates should expedite the development of new therapeutic strategies to target and leverage the CIN phenotype in cancer cells.

Development of a novel HAC-based "gain of signal" quantitative assay for measuring chromosome instability (CIN) in cancer cells.

Accumulating data indicates that chromosome instability (CIN) common to cancer cells can be used as a target for cancer therapy. At present the rate of chromosome mis-segregation is quantified by laborious techniques such as coupling clonal cell analysis with karyotyping or fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Recently, a novel assay was developed based on the loss of a non-essential human artificial chromosome (HAC) carrying a constitutively expressed EGFP transgene ("loss of signal" assay). Using this system, anticancer drugs can be easily ranked on by their effect on HAC loss. However, it is problematic to covert this "loss of signal" assay into a high-throughput screen to identify drugs and mutations that increase CIN levels. To address this point, we re-designed the HAC-based assay. In this new system, the HAC carries a constitutively expressed shRNA against the EGFP transgene integrated into human genome. Thus, cells that inherit the HAC display no green fluorescence, while cells lacking the HAC do. We verified the accuracy of this "gain of signal" assay by measuring the level of CIN induced by known antimitotic drugs and added to the list of previously ranked CIN inducing compounds, two newly characterized inhibitors of the centromere-associated protein CENP-E, PF-2771 and GSK923295 that exhibit the highest effect on chromosome instability measured to date. The "gain of signal" assay was also sensitive enough to detect increase of CIN after siRNA depletion of known genes controlling mitotic progression through distinct mechanisms. Hence this assay can be utilized in future experiments to uncover novel human CIN genes, which will provide novel insight into the pathogenesis of cancer. Also described is the possible conversion of this new assay into a high-throughput screen using a fluorescence microplate reader to characterize chemical libraries and identify new conditions that modulate CIN level.

From selective full-length genes isolation by TAR cloning in yeast to their expression from HAC vectors in human cells.

Transformation-associated recombination (TAR) cloning allows selective isolation of full-length genes and genomic loci as large circular Yeast Artificial Chromosomes (YACs) in yeast. The method has a broad application for structural and functional genomics, long-range haplotyping, characterization of chromosomal rearrangements, and evolutionary studies. In this paper, we describe a basic protocol for gene isolation by TAR as well as a method to convert TAR isolates into Bacterial Artificial Chromosomes (BACs) using a retrofitting vector. The retrofitting vector contains a 3' HPRT-loxP cassette to allow subsequent gene loading into a unique loxP site of the HAC-based (Human Artificial Chromosome) gene delivery vector. The benefit of combining the TAR gene cloning technology with the HAC gene delivery system for gene expression studies is discussed.