Direct injection of CRISPR/Cas9 into zygotes enables the production of genetically modified nonhuman primates (NHPs) essential for modeling specific human diseases, such as Usher syndrome, and for developing novel therapeutic strategies. Usher syndrome is a rare genetic disease that causes loss of hearing, retinal degeneration, and problems with balance, and is attributed to a mutation in MYO7A, a gene that encodes an uncommon myosin motor protein expressed in the inner ear and retinal photoreceptors. To produce an Usher syndrome type 1B (USH1B) rhesus macaque model, we disrupted the MYO7A gene in developing zygotes. Identification of appropriately edited MYO7A embryos for knockout embryo transfer requires sequence analysis of material recovered from a trophectoderm (TE) cell biopsy. However, the TE biopsy procedure is labor intensive and could adversely impact embryo development. Recent studies have reported using cell-free DNA (cfDNA) from embryo culture media to detect aneuploid embryos in human in vitro fertilization (IVF) clinics. The cfDNA is released from the embryo during cell division or cell death, suggesting that cfDNA may be a viable resource for sequence analysis. Moreover, cfDNA collection is not invasive to the embryo and does not require special tools or expertise. We hypothesized that selection of appropriate edited embryos could be performed by analyzing cfDNA for MYO7A editing in embryo culture medium, and that this method would be advantageous for the subsequent generation of genetically modified NHPs. The purpose of this experiment is to determine whether cfDNA can be used to identify the target gene mutation of CRISPR/Cas9 injected embryos. In this study, we were able to obtain and utilize cfDNA to confirm the mutagenesis of MYO7A, but the method will require further optimization to obtain better accuracy before it can replace the TE biopsy approach.

생체 내 변화에서 효소는 중요한 촉매이다. 효소의 안정성과 재사용성은 촉매 과정에서 중요한 요소이다. 적합한 기질에 효소 고정화는 특정 미세환경의 조성을 통해 효소 활동성을 높인다. 다양한 종류의 분리막이 각각의 생체적합성과 막 표면의 친수성/소수성 조절 용이도에 따라 기질로 사용되었다. 본 논문에서는 셀룰로스, 폴리아크릴로니트릴(PAN), 폴리디메 틸실록산(PDMS), 폴리비닐리덴플루오라이드(PVDF), 폴리에테르설폰(PES) 고분자 분리막이 소개되고 토의되었다. 고정화 효소를 이용한 유기오염물의 생물적 분해는 제약 회사 및 섬유 회사 등에서 발생하는 오염물질을 친환경적으로 감소할 수 있는 방법이다. 효소 고정화 생물반응기(EMBR)로 기름의 가수분해를 제어할 수 있고 이를 통해 탄소 배출량 감소 및 환경오염을 줄일 수 있다. EMBR로 만들 수 있는 바이오에탄올과 바이오디젤은 화석 연료의 대체제이다.

Direct injection of genome editing tools such as CRISPR/Cas9 system into developing embryos has been widely used to generate genetically engineered pigs. The approach allows us to produce pigs carrying targeted modifications at high efficiency without having to apply somatic cell nuclear transfer. However, the targeted modifications during embryogenesis often result in mosaicism, which causes issues in phenotyping founder animals and establishing a group of pigs carrying intended modifications. This study was aimed to establish a genomic PCR and sequencing system of a single blastomere in the four-cell embryos to detect potential mosaicism. We performed genomic PCR in four individual blastomeres from four-cell embryos. We successfully amplified target genomic region from single blastomeres of 4-cell stage embryo by PCR. Sanger sequencing of the PCR amplicons obtained from the blastomeres suggested that PCR-based genotyping of single blastomere was a feasible method to determine mutation type generated by genome editing technology such as CRISPR/Cas9 in early stage embryos. In conclusion, we successfully genotyped single blastomeres in a single 4-cell stage embryo to detect potential mosaicism in porcine embryos. Our approach offers a simple platform that can be used to screen the prevalence of mosaicism from designed CRISPR/Cas9 systems.

Xenotransplantation involves multiple steps of immune rejection. The present study was designed to produce nuclear transfer embryos, prior to the production of transgenic pigs, using fibroblasts carrying transgenes human complement regulatory protein hCD59 and interleukin-18 binding protein (hIL-18BP) to reduce hyperacute rejection (HAR) and cellular rejection in pig-to-human xenotransplantation. In addition to the hCD59-mediated reduction of HAR, hIL-18BP may prevent cellular rejection by inhibiting the activation of natural killer cells, activated T-cell proliferation, and induction of IFN-γ. Transgene construct including hCD59 and ILI-18BP was introduced into miniature pig fetal fibroblasts. After antibiotic selection of double transgenic fibroblasts, integration of the transgene was screened by PCR, and the transgene expression was confirmed by RT-PCR. Treatment of human serum did not affect the survival of double-transgenic fibroblasts, whereas the treatment significantly reduced the survival of non-transgenic fibroblasts (p<0.01), suggesting alleviation of HAR. Among 337 reconstituted oocytes produced by nuclear transfer using the double transgenic fibroblasts, 28 (15.3%) developed to the blastocyst stage. Analysis of individual embryos indicated that 53.6% (15/28) of embryos contained the transgene. The result of the present study demonstrates the resistance of hCD59 and IL-18BP double-transgenic fibroblasts against HAR, and the usefulness of the transgenic approach may be predicted by RT-PCR and cytolytic assessment prior to actual production of transgenic pigs. Further study on the transfer of these embryos to surrogates may produce transgenic clone miniature pigs expressing hCD59 and hIL-18BP for xenotransplantation.

본 연구에서는 탄소나노튜브와 폴리프로필렌 기지 간 계면결합력과 나노튜브의 국부적 응집에 따른 나노복합재의 탄소성거동 변화에 대한 파라메트릭 연구를 수행한다. 나노복합재의 탄소성 거동 예측을 위해 분자동역학 전산모사를 수행하고, 분자동역학 결과와 Mori-Tanaka 모델을 적용한 비선형 미시역학 모델을 연계하여 나노복합재 내 흡착계면의 탄소성 거동을 역으로 도출하는 2단계 영역분할 기법을 적용하였다. 미시역학 모델에서는 시컨트 계수방법을 Mori-Tanaka 모델에 적용하여 나노복합재의 비선형 거동을 예측하는 방법을 적용하였으며, 나노튜브와 기지 간 재료계면의 불완전 결합을 고려하기 위해 변위 불연속 조건을 적용하였다. 흡착영역을 고려한 미시역학 모델을 통해 흡착계면의 유무 및 재료계면 결합력 변화 그리고 나노튜브의 국부적 응집현상에 따른 나노복합재의 응력-변형률 관계를 예측하였다. 그 결과 나노튜브의 국부적 응집이나노복합재의 강화효과를 저하시키는 가장 중요한 변수임을 확인하였다.